FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- The Florida Panthers have made a habit out of winning at TD Garden in the Stanley Cup Playoffs the past two seasons.
So, they appeared at ease Thursday before heading back there to face the Boston Bruins in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Second Round on Friday (7 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS, CBC).
Leading 3-2 in the best-of-7 series, Florida can advance to the Eastern Conference Final for the second straight season with another victory in Boston. It has won five consecutive playoff games there dating to the opening round last season and including Game 3 and 4 of this series.
"It's awesome," Panthers defenseman Gustav Forsling said of playing at TD Garden. "It's a great building. We love playing there. We're ready. I can't wait for tomorrow."
The Panthers still face some pressure after failing in their first try to close out the Bruins with a 2-1 loss in Game 5 at home Tuesday. There would be more if they lose again Friday and are forced to play a deciding Game 7 at home Sunday.
But they seem to thrive in Boston's hostile environment, brushing off the positive energy the Bruins get from their fans and whatever negativity is directed at them. A sixth consecutive playoff win at TD Garden would equal the Toronto Maple Leafs (1949-51) for second longest streak by a visitor in Boston and move within one of the record seven held by the New Jersey Devils from 1994 to 2003.
"It's a great atmosphere there," Panthers center Aleksander Barkov said. "They love their sports, they love their hockey, so it's great to play there. … I think overall just being on the road with this group of guys and, obviously, spending more time together and talk about hockey and other stuff all together. So, that kind of builds the team chemistry.
"I think it fits our system of play really well that we want to play really hard and simple, on the road especially."
After the Panthers overcame a 3-1 series deficit to defeat the Bruins in the first round last season, the Bruins are attempting to do the same against them in this series. Boston took the first step toward that with its Game 5 victory and hopes to build momentum with another win at home Friday, with captain Brad Marchand potentially returning after missing the past two games with an upper-body injury.
Having been the team trying to make the comeback last season, the Panthers have an idea what to expect with the Bruins desperate to even the series.
"It's all perspective," Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. "I guess this is what happens. and this is the emotion of a playoff series is that we win three in row and then the expectation is, 'Well, if you win three. You just win four. This has to be.' And then you don't and it's like, 'What the hell happened?' Well, it's a tight series. … This is going to be a grinder and you want to be good at that. You want to be good at facing those games."
The Panthers are focused more on what they need to do better than what the Bruins might do. After winning three straight games and holding Boston to 18 shots on goal or fewer in the process, Florida was not as sharp in Game 5 with its passing and had trouble breaking out of its defensive zone, particularly in the first period when it was outshot 13-4.
They want to get back to having quick, clean breakouts and putting pressure on the Bruins in their end on the forecheck, which not only creates scoring chances but also forces them to expend time and energy, so they have less to create offense.
"Of course, every aspect of our game needs to be a little better than last game," Barkov said. "We didn't like our game, but I think tomorrow we want to be as good as possible and be a lot better than last game."
Being on the road has a way of bringing out the best in the Panthers. They had the second-best road record in the NHL during the regular season (26-11-4, 56 points), behind only the Dallas Stars (26-10-5, 57 points) and slightly better than their home record (26-13-2, 54 points).
In the playoffs, they are 3-1 on the road and 4-2 at home.
"In the playoffs, I think there would be a comfort level road and home. I do believe in that," Maurice said. "I've coached teams where we're not losing at home or a great road team. I feel like we play pretty close to our game at home and on the road. There's not much variation, and that's true analytically as well."
The Panthers have outscored the Bruins 23-13 in their five straight playoff wins in Boston. They know if they can block out the pressure and the crowd again and play another solid road game, they give themselves their best chance to eliminate the Burins and move on to the next round.
"I think the most important for us to do is just think about us and get ourselves ready and only think about what we can do and what can do to be at our best when tomorrow the puck drops," Barkov said. "That's all about us. That's all we want to think about."
