In 63 games this season, Bennett logged 16 goals, 24 assists and 150 hits.
"He's worked extremely hard to get back in as quick as he can," Panthers defenseman Brandon Montour said of his grizzled teammate. "Obviously, I think he was a little frustrated with his injury. I don't think he was expecting to be out as long as he was, but he's a warrior. No matter his injury, he's going to battle for us. He feels like he's 100%. That's a big, big boost for us."
Not at all intimidated by this season's Presidents' Trophy winners, the Panthers showed a lot of promise and poise against the Bruins in a tight Game 1 on Monday despite suffering a 3-1 loss.
Coming out strong, the Panthers played a suffocating brand of possession-style hockey during the first half of the game. At 5-on-5, they limited the Bruins, who ranked second in the NHL with 301 goals during the regular season, to just 12 shots on goal through two periods.
But with the Panthers getting into penalty trouble, the Bruins still managed to draw first blood when David Pastrnak buried a shot on the power play to make it 1-0 at 5:58 of the first period.
Following a few spectacular saves from Alex Lyon -- who made exceptional reads when facing down dangerous 2-on-1 rushes all game long -- the Bruins extended their lead to 2-0 at 3:41 of the second period when Brad Marchand managed to sneak a shot into the net from the top of the left circle.
Getting the Panthers on the board, Matthew Tkachuk intercepted a pass in the offensive zone before beating Linus Ullmark with a far-side shot from in tight to trim the deficit to 2-1 at 6:34. But with 2:28 left in the middle frame, Jake DeBrusk crashed the crease to put Boston up 3-1.
In the third period, the Bruins clamped down defensively and held the Panthers to just eight shots on goal, with Ullmark, who finished with 31 saves in the game, stopping them all. After going through that, Panthers know they can't afford to fall into an early hole again in Game 2.
"It was a close game," Montour said. "Two penalties early. They've obviously got personnel, so you want to stay away from that. But I thought it was an even game. They got a few bounces there. It's going to be close games. It's tough just getting one [goal] in there, but we've got to find a way with this goalie to get in his eyes and make it tough around him. … As the game went on, we took it more to them in the first and second and then they kind of closed it down in the third."
Winning the 5-on-5 battle in Game 1, the Panthers led 61-51 in shot attempts, 29-23 in shots on goal and 33-25 in scoring chances, per NaturalStatTrick.com. They also finished with a 3.04-1.94 advantage in expected goals, which bodes well if they're able to keep up that level of play.
After missing Game 1, Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron will be absent again for Game 2.
In terms of goaltenders, both Lyon and Ullmark will get the nod in their respective nets.
"There's small things we can do better," Panthers forward Anton Lundell said. "We can play a little bit better with the puck and not give it away too much. Overall, just keep going. We got some good chances [in Game 1], but we can try and get even more pucks to the net."
