5 TAKEAWAYS: Panthers 7, Bruins 5

SUNRISE, Fla. -- The Panthers are on the verge of something special.
After trailing 3-1 in the Eastern Conference First Round, they've now clawed their way back to get the best-of-seven series to 3-3 with a 7-5 win over the Bruins at FLA Live Arena on Friday.
While many doubted them heading into the playoffs, their confidence never wavered.
"At not one point did I feel like our season was coming to an end," said forward Matthew Tkachuk, who guaranteed the Panthers would be back in Boston for Game 7 after scoring the game-winning goal in overtime in Game 5. "I was very confident after Game 5 and very confident during Game 6]. Just confident that we'd be going on a flight back to Boston, and now it's just about building, preparing and doing everything we can to be ready for puck drop [on Friday]."
For a quick recap of the game, click
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To read up on five key takeaways for the Cats, continue below.

1. TKACHUK ANSWERS

Tkachuk does more than just keep his promises.
He also continues to put up a ton of points.
The second player in franchise history to post three points in a potential elimination game, No. 19 scored a pair of goals and also chipped in an assist in Game 6. And while his first-period goal that made it 2-1 brought fans to their feet, his goal in the third period blew the roof off the arena.
Just 27 seconds after Jake DeBrusk put the Bruins on top 5-4 with a shorthanded goal at 10:22, Tkachuk answered on the power play by jamming the puck past Linus Ullmark to make it 5-5 at 10:49.

"That's the most-challenging one, a shorthanded goal in a game that important can cripple you," head coach Paul Maurice said of Tkachuk's goal. "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 almost routine for him. He has the ability to stay focused in these games. He doesn't come out of them."
On the same level of "him" status as Heat superstar Jimmy Butler at this point, Tkachuk has been a force for the Panthers in every game of the series against Boston. Producing multiple points in four of six games, he's logged a team-leading five goals and 10 points thus far.
Heading into his second-career Game 7, Tkachuk has nothing but winning on his mind.
"This whole playoff series it's been us against the hockey world," Tkachuk said confidently. "We're going up against a bunch of things, and it's just going right at the head of the beast."

2. UNSUNG HEROES

Not all heroes wear capes.
In fact, some sit in a room watching video all day long.
Stepping into the spotlight in Game 6, the Panthers got a big assist from their two video gurus as assistant coach Myles Fee and assistant video coach John Congemi flexed their muscles.
After the Bruins appeared to go up 3-2 following a goal from Brandon Carlo in the second period, the video coaches sent word the Maurice that they'd seen something. Prior to the goal, DeBrusk had ever-so-subtlety tapped the puck with his hand, which would constitute an illegal hand pass.
With no clear vantage point from the bench, Maurice went on their advice and challenged.
Following a video review, officials agreed with the assessment and took the goal off the board. Not long after that, captain Aleksander Barkov scored to give the Panthers a 3-2 lead. In a game full of momentum swings, that successful challenge certainly proved to be one of the bigger ones.
"Maybe some names that don't get talked about in the series," Maurice said. "John Congemi and Myles Fee back in the video room, what an enormous impact they have. They called it."

3. DALPE GETS IT DONE

This is what the playoffs are all about.
Competing in his first playoff series in the NHL since 2016, Zac Dalpe finally fulfilled a lifelong dream when he set up shop in the slot and one-timed a pass from Eetu Luostarinen past Ullmark to get the game tied 4-4 in the third period with the first playoff goal of his career.

At 33 years old, Dalpe is a veteran of 498 games in the AHL and 168 games in the NHL.
"I think I've been the next man up pretty much my whole career, so I know how to handle it," Dalpe said of coming up with a big goal in Game 6. "That's something that you dream about as a kid, scoring a goal in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. My kids will probably enjoy that one, for sure."
A father of three boys, Dalpe said he wasn't sure if his kids stayed up past their bedtime to see his big goal. If they didn't, there will certainly be a lot to talk about at the breakfast table in Charlotte this morning.
"Hopefully we can keep playing and they can watch some more," Dalpe smiled.
An integral part of the organization, Dalpe has been a key player in both the AHL and NHL this season. He not only serves as captain down in Charlotte, but also helped fill in holes for the Panthers multiple times during the season as the team battled through injuries and illness.
In addition to scoring 21 goals with the Checkers, Dalpe scored pair with Florida in 2022-23.
"He's one of those guys you love to have as a teammate," Barkov said. "He works really hard. I know he's been up and down pretty much the whole year. He's the captain in Charlotte. He's a leader. He's an on-ice leader, off-ice leader. No matter what he does, he's playing the right way."

4. A FRANTIC FINISH

Barkov said he couldn't even hear himself think for 20 minutes after Game 6.
That's a credit to both the fans in the building and the frantic fashion the game ended in.
Holding on to a 6-5 lead with under a minute left in regulation, the Panthers survived one last push from the Bruins thanks a to an outstanding team effort.
First, it was Sam Reinhart blocking a shot from David Pastrnak, who had already scored twice in the game and lit the lamp 61 times during the regular season. With the puck then catching just a piece of Bobrovsky's pads, Gudas jumped in and whacked the rubber safely right back to Reinhart.
"There was a big block by Reino, so the puck was kind of bobbling, hit my pad and went behind," Bobrovsky said of the sequence. "Guddy was there to support, protect, and he made a great play.
After gathering the puck, Reinhart quickly fired it off the wall in the defensive zone and watched as it glided all the way down the ice and right into Boston's abandoned net to make it 7-5 with 28 seconds left on the clock.

"We knew it was going in as soon as it hit the board there," forward Anthony Duclair said.
With a sellout crowd on hand, Reinhart's goal was the perfect exclamation point to end Game 6.
"The atmosphere was outstanding," Bobrovsky said. "The fans were there to support us, pushing us. We feed from that energy. It was great. It was fun. It was a big win."

5. BIG NIGHT FOR THE THIRD LINE

Let's be honest, too much happened in this game to squeeze into just five takeaways.
Just taking a look at a few other keys for the Panthers, Brandon Montour netted the crucial opening goal, Aaron Ekblad came up with some huge blocked shots, Barkov was elite at both ends of the ice, Bobrovsky made more than a few game-saving stops and so on.
But after the game, Maurice spent extra time talking about three players in particular.
Even though Tkachuk will deservedly garner most of the headlines, the third line of Anton Lundell, Luostarinen and Reinhart had a monster showing from start to finish in Game 6.
Lundell dished out two assists and won 67% of his faceoffs, Luostarinen scored what would go on to hold up as the game-winning goal when he sniped a shot past Ullmark to make it 6-5 in the third period, and Reinhart sealed the deal at the end of regulation as previously mentioned.

At 5-on-5, that trio also owned 92.43% of the expected goals.
"That line tonight, for me, was the best line on the ice tonight with Luostarinen, Lundell and Reinhart" Maurice said. "Luosty was a fourth-line center last year, Lundy was in the three-hole with Reino, so there's some chemistry there. The growth in those two (Lundell and Luostarinen) especially has been spectacular."
As for his goal, Luostarinen is still smiling.
"I think it was probably the biggest goal of my career so far," the young Finn said.