Panthers' strong self-belief on display in Game 6 of Eastern 1st Round

SUNRISE, Fla. -- It was possible that the only people who believed in the Florida Panthers were the Florida Panthers.

Given little chance against the big, bad Boston Bruins -- the team that set a new regular-season record for wins and points, and which appeared to be en route to a Stanley Cup coronation - the Panthers were supposed to have transitioned to the golf course by now.
Except, it hasn't quite worked out that way.
After a back-and-forth, hold-your-breath, goal-after-goal-after-goal third period, after a lost lead and a regained lead, after a short-handed goal given up and a power-play goal scored, spinning heads and a raucous FLA Live Arena and a star turn by a player who spent most of the season with the Charlotte Checkers, the Panthers have forced a deciding Game 7 in their best-of-7 Eastern Conference First Round against the Bruins.
"I'm going to have to watch the highlights to see how that all unfolded," Florida forward Zac Dalpe said. "Things happened pretty quick there."
RELATED: [Complete Bruins vs. Panthers series coverage]
The Panthers have won two straight elimination games, have made the Bruins look bruised and inept, have kept pushing and pushing and pushing and now, after a 7-5 track meet of a win Friday, the series is tied 3-3 with Game 7 set for Sunday (6:30 p.m. ET; TNT, CBC, SN, TVAS, NESN, BSFL).
"We were ready for that," Florida captain Aleksander Barkov said. "We've played playoff games for a while, since like February or March. So, we've been playing that type of game, battling for our lives. So, it was pretty much like nothing new to us -- but obviously it's different in playoffs."
Not that the Panthers were taking anything for granted.
"I wouldn't jump too high," Florida goalie Sergei Bobrovsky said. "It's a big win; it's 0-0 score. The next game is the biggest game. We have to be ready, be humble, but enjoy tonight. It's a huge win. It's a fun win and it's a great feeling in the room for sure."
After two periods that occurred along the exact same lines as Game 5 in Boston, trading goals, with the Panthers kicking off the scoring, the gloves came off and the defense relaxed in the third. They had come into the third with Florida up 3-2, but it didn't last.
The Bruins scored the first two of the third, by Tyler Bertuzzi (1:31) and David Pastrnak (3:53), the second goal of the game for each. Boston had its first lead since Game 4.
But Dalpe, who scored two goals all season with the Panthers (but 21 with the Checkers) scored at 7:21, earning him bragging rights for the rest of his life.
"That's something you dream about as a kid, scoring in the Stanley Cup Playoffs," Dalpe said. "My kids will probably enjoy that one, for sure. … I probably will remember it and not sleep tonight."
Not that it would end there. Jake DeBrusk got one short-handed at 10:22, but Matthew Tkachuk answered 27 seconds later on the same power play.
"That's the most challenging one," Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. "A short-handed goal in a game that important can [really hurt] you. If it was the first time we'd seen Matthew do something like that, we'd say, 'Oh, what a great time to step up,' except it's just almost routine for him."
Two more would follow, the game-winner at 14:22 by Eetu Luostarinen and an empty-netter by Sam Reinhart with 28 seconds left, and FLA Live Arena was pandemonium.
"You couldn't really hear what was going on in my head for the past 20 minutes," Barkov said. "It was insane. It was awesome, awesome to be a part of."
It is possible that the most crucial person in the Panthers organization Friday, though, was not on the ice at all. Maurice tipped his cap to assistant video coach John Congemi, the person who caught the hand pass by DeBrusk that negated the Brandon Carlo goal at 8:28 of the second period. And instead of the Bruins being up 3-2, Barkov would score less than a minute later, at 9:22.
"That's kind of the game, right?" Maurice said. "Zac Dalpe, big goal. 'Loosty,' huge goal. Maybe some names that don't get talked about in the series. John Congemi, Myles Fee back in the video room, but what an enormous impact they have."
In the end, the Panthers did the unexpected, the impressive, the nearly unbelievable to many. They came back from being down 3-1 to win two consecutive games, to grab hold of the series and take the momentum and the control.
They've set up Game 7. It wasn't something anticipated before the series. It certainly wasn't anticipated after Game 4.
But here the Panthers are.
"It shows the heart and the passion we have in this locker room," Florida forward Anthony Duclair said. "Down 3-1 … we believed that we can come back and now we did. Now we've just got to finish the job. It's going to be the toughest task here so far.
"We've had the Game 7 mentality for three games now. It's no different coming in Sunday."
They've come this far. They're ready to finish the job.
Even if no one believed but them.