RECAP: Panthers facing elimination after Game 4 loss to Bruins

SUNRISE, Fla. -- The Panthers know they're now facing a steep uphill climb following a 6-2 loss to the Bruins in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference First Round at FLA Live Arena on Sunday.
But even trailing 3-1 in the best-of-seven series, they don't care about the outside noise.
"We don't think about whoever says what," Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov said. "We have a great thing going on here in the locker room. Everyone believes in each other. We come out every game and play as hard as possible for each other. We love each other, so that's what we're going to do."

Even though it was the Panthers that came out flying, the Bruins managed to open the scoring after being sent to an early power play. Following a highlight-reel stop by Sergei Bobrovsky, Brad Marchand sent the ensuing rebound into the net to put Boston up 1-0 at 9:45 of the first period.
Despite the whistle blowing before the puck had crossed the goal line, officials met up and deemed it a good goal after a quick conversation. Oddly enough, a similar play happened just the other night in the series between the Lightning and Maple Leafs, but that goal did not count.
"The referee behind the net decided that the play was dead, so he blew the whistle and waved it off," Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said when asked to recount what happened. "Then he went and talked to the other three officials and they decided that they probably shouldn't have blown the whistle. I'm not sure where that one and the one in Tampa-Toronto even out."
Starting the second period on the power play after Matthew Tkachuk was penalized during a post-buzzer scrum heading into the intermission, the Bruins doubled their lead to 2-0 when Jake DeBrusk got to the front of the net and re-directed a pass from Dmitry Orlov into the cage at 1:52.
Showing off his all-world hands, Tkachuk got the Panthers on the board when he went between the legs with a shot from the right side of the net to beat Linus Ullmark and make it 2-1 at the 16-minute mark.

"We started really well," Barkov said. "We had a lot of shots, a lot of chances to score. That's how we want to play all game. We don't want to take too many penalties."
Continuing to find success with tips and deflections, the Bruins regained their two-goal lead in the third period when Tyler Bertuzzi, who has a point in all four games in the series, re-directed a shot from Brandon Carlo out of the air and through Bobrovsky's five-hole to make it 3-1 at 2:26.
On the power play soon after, the Panthers answered when Sam Bennett fired a rebound past a sprawled-out Ullmark to cut the deficit to 3-2 at 6:11. But less than two minutes later, the Bruins touched the twine again when DeBrusk potted a juicy rebound in the paint to make it 4-2 at 8:05.
With 3:36 remaining in regulation, Taylor Hall scored on a breakaway to make it 5-2.
Shortly after that goal, the bad blood boiled over as chaos erupted around Boston's net with multiple scrums ensuing after Tkachuk was taken down by two Bruins. After getting back to his feet, Tkachuk then got into it with Ullmark, who dropped his gloves and seemed down to dance. Much to the disappoint of fans, the refs squashed the brawl before it could get started.
With 29 seconds left, Hall cashed in on the empty net to lock in the 6-2 final for Boston.
"Just stay out of the box a little more," Panthers defenseman Radko Gudas said. "Play smarter. I thought we were playing pretty hard hockey, so it felt like game could tip both ways. For us, just don't give up. Play as hard as possible and hope for the best."

CATS QUOTES

"We've just got to keep going. We had a good start and want to have the same start we had today. We need to try and play that way the whole game. That's our identity." - Aleksander Barkov
"They're a good a team. They have this unbelievable record for a reason. We've just got to make sure that we handle it right and we play better, especially after we score."- Radko Gudas
"I loved our start. The game got away at the end by the score, but not by scoring chances. We'd given up 11 even-strength shots through two periods." - Paul Maurice

CATS NOTES

• Matthew Tkachuk has cracked the scoresheet in three of four playoff games thus far.
  - Sam Bennett has earned at least one point in all three playoff games he's suited up in.
  - The Panthers led 54-40 in shot attempts at 5-on-5, but trailed 21-18 in scoring chances.
  - Sergei Bobrovsky made 12 high-danger saves, according to NaturalStatTrick.com.
  - Brandon Montour blocked a team-high four shots.
  - Eric Staal won 67% of his faceoffs.

WHAT'S NEXT?

The Panthers will look to stave off elimination when they battle the Bruins in Game 5 at TD Garden on Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET.