Series Talk: 2023 ECQF - BOSTON BRUINS (A1) vs Florida Panthers (WC2)

[Fenway]

Game 1: Monday, April 17 at 7:30 p.m. (TV: NESN, ESPN, Sportsnet | RADIO: 98.5 The Sports Hub)
Game 2: Wednesday, April 19 at 7:30 p.m. (TV: NESN, ESPN, Sportsnet | RADIO: 98.5 The Sports Hub)
Game 3: Friday, April 21 at 7:30 p.m. (TV: NESN, TNT, Sportsnet | RADIO: 98.5 The Sports Hub)
Game 4: Sunday, April 23 at 3:30 p.m. (TV: NESN, TNT, Sportsnet 1 | RADIO: 98.5 The Sports Hub)
Game 5: Wednesday, April 26 at TBD (TV: TBD | RADIO: 98.5 The Sports Hub)
Game 6: Friday, April 28 at TBD (TV: TBD | RADIO: 98.5 The Sports Hub)
Game 7: Sunday, April 30 at TBD (TV: TBD | RADIO: 98.5 The Sports Hub)




All reactions:
1Patty Renaud




The Boston Bruins will play the Florida Panthers in the Eastern Conference First Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The Bruins (65-12-5), who set the NHL record for wins and points in a season (135), won the Presidents' Trophy and will have home-ice advantage in the best-of-7 series and throughout the playoffs. The Panthers (42-32-8) finished as the second wild card from the East.

"They're the best regular-season team in history," Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk said. "We have a chance to do something very, very special. It's going to take a lot of preparation and a lot of execution."
Game 1 will be at TD Garden in Boston on Monday (TBD).

The Bruins and Panthers each won two of the four games they played this season. Patrice Bergeron had six points (three goals, three assists) and David Pastrnak had four goals. Jake DeBrusk and, Connor Clifton and Brad Marchand had four points each. Linus Ullmark was 2-0-0 with a 3.00 goals-against average and .925 save percentage. Jeremy Swayman was 0-1-1 with a 4.03 GAA and .881 save percentage.

"Just that they're a really good team, a very dangerous team," Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said when asked for his thoughts on the Panthers. "And we're gonna have to be at the top of our game if we want to have success."

The Panthers were led by Aleksander Barkov (two goals, four assists), Sam Reinhart (three goals, two assists) and Tkachuk (one goal, four assists) against the Bruins this season. Spencer Knight was 1-1-0 with a 4.51 GAA and .862 save percentage in two games. Sergei Bobrovsky allowed four goals on 29 shots in a 5-3 loss on Oct. 17. Alex Lyon made 38 saves in a 4-3 overtime win on Jan. 28.

"Tkachuk, excellent player," Montogmery said. "Barkov's a stud. You know that's the two players on top of my mind right now, and then besides that they're just a really fast team that transitions well."

The Bruins and Panthers have played once in the postseason, won by Florida in five games in the 1996 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals.

Boston, which has qualified for the playoffs in seven straight seasons, lost to the Carolina Hurricanes in seven games in the first round last season.

Florida, which has qualified for the postseason in four straight seasons, won the Presidents' Trophy last season for finishing with the League's best record (58-18-6). They were swept by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the second round.

"[Heck] yeah, we're excited," Panthers forward Ryan Lomberg said. "They're a good team. We'll take a couple days to prepare here. We're up to the challenge and we're looking forward to it."

The Bruins are led by David Pastrnak (61 goals, 113 points), Brad Marchand (67 points) and Patrice Bergeron (58 points), three of their seven players with at least 50 points (Pavel Zacha, 57; David Krejci, 56; Hampus Lindholm, 53; Charlie McAvoy, 52). Ullmark (40-6-1) led the NHL in wins and was first in GAA (1.89) and save percentage (.938) among goalies to play at least 10 games (49; 48 starts). He also had two shutouts. Jeremy Swayman was 24-6-4 with a 2.21 GAA, .922 save percentage and four shutouts in 37 games (33 starts).

Boston acquired forwards Tyler Bertuzzi (Detroit Red Wings) and Garnet Hathaway (Washington Capitals), and defenseman Dmitry Orlov (Capitals) prior to the 2023 NHL Trade Deadline, which was March 3.

Florida is led by Tkachuk, who had an NHL career-high 109 points (40 goals, 69 assists), Barkov (78 points), Brandon Montour (73 points) and Carter Verhaeghe (73 points).

Lyon has started the past eight games for the Panthers with Bobrovsky sick and Knight in the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program. Lyon is 6-1-1 with a 1.87 goals-against average and .943 save percentage since March 29. Bobrovsky is 24-20-3 with a 3.07 GAA and .901 save percentage this season. Knight is 9-8-3 with a 3.18 GAA and .901 save percentage.

"They've played us tough," Bruins forward Trent Frederic said. "They're a good team. They've got a lot of star power over there, guys who can score and play, and they play hard. It won't be easy by any means, it's going to be a battle, and I think we're looking forward to that challenge against them, and we're just excited to get going now that we finally know who we're playing."

Boston has won the Stanley Cup six times, last doing so in 2011.

Florida has never won the Cup, but advanced to the Final in 1996, where they were swept by the Colorado Avalanche.

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[ShiftyNifty16]

It’s on!! In 4.

 

[Aussie Bruin]

Bruins in 5. Panthers have a good offense and I think it will really click into gear at least once and get them a win, but their defense and especially goaltending just isn't reliable enough to trouble the Bruins too much. Expect some good battles and some fast, fairly physical games, but Boston should have the edge and carry the day overall quite comfortably.

Tkachuk is the one Florida player the Bs should put some time into and look to keep quiet. He's had a very good season and he's built for playoff hockey. Other than that, we should just play our way and keep doing what's brought us so much success this season. One game at a time. Can't wait!!

 

[bobbyorr04]

The Good : Balance - The B's have 4 solid lines, 6 solid defensemen and 2 solid goaltenders (if everybody is healthy)...and the best PK in the league

The Bad: Bruins PP - The B's have an iffy PP at best, which must improve ASAP
(if the Bergeron PP unit struggles, I'd like to see Bert, Zacha, Pasta on PP1)

The Ugly: TD Garden ice ...need I say more??

B's in 6

 

[bobbyorr04]

Good news

 

[Fenway]

I was hoping for anyone but Florida but selfishly for me because of travel as Fort Lauderdale Airport has issues. Come playoffs the charter is not available because of the Black Aces and other support personnel.

Hold serve at home and it should be over in 5 and hope Tampa and Toronto have multiple overtime games.

 

[Ddawg]

The dehumidifiers they installed don't seem to be doing the trick, ice will be a factor for both teams. Having said that B's in 5. Ully and Sway will need to be on top of their games. This year's B's team is the best built for playoff team in ages, hats off to management.

 

[rfournier103]

At long last… we can avenge the 1996 playoff embarrassment at the hands/paws of the Panthers!!!

I voted Bruins in six, but I’d really like to see a shorter series - in the Bruins’ favor, of course.

Monday seems so far away.

 

[danpantz]

Finally

Playoff Krejci time

 

[LouJersey]

Keep the players off South Beach during the weekend please.

 

[Fenway]

The Ugly: TD Garden ice ...need I say more??

The ice at TD Garden has become a Pandora's Box that everyone knows is a problem but there is no easy solution dating to a major design flaw when the FleeceCenter was built in 1995.

Jacobs had a local manager in charge of keeping the FleeceCenter on budget and if you remember when the arena opened there were the phantom ticket windows on the Nashua Street side. Ultimately to save money North Station became a horror show that would have embarrassed third-world nations. It took Jacobs nearly 11 years to finally make North Station a functional train station again.

2023 brings another challenge - The Celtics will be around for at least another month and maybe longer.

Humidity is the problem

*FULL DISCLOSURE* - I know the reason the Bruins use Olympia ice resurfacers at TD Garden and it was because of language in the contract with the Teamsters (Bull Gang) and frankly Local 25 in Boston screwed up and the DN lawyers in Buffalo pounced.

 

[bp14]

I don’t see how anyone thinks this Florida team can win two games in this series. I know overconfidence isn’t good, but this should be 4-5. Tops.

 

[MarchysNoseKnows]

 

[Bruinaura]

 

[NextBigThing]

Florida in 5. B’s are due for a slump.

 

[sooshii]

T&R (or whoever is subbing) said game 3 will be Friday 4/21.

 

[LouJersey]

T&R (or whoever is subbing) said game 3 will be Friday 4/21.

Guessing Sat night is primetime Devils Rangers and the Bruins will play an afternoon national game on Sunday.

 

[FrankerC]

If Bruins can shut down Tkachuk, they should win in 4 or 5. Tkachuk drives this team. Going to be a good series regardless.

 

[Terrier]

 

[CDJ]

Panthers have the offense to compete with anybody in the league, they’re a scary team when they’re feeling it

There’s nobody in the league I would favor over the bruins and while I recognize it’s the playoffs where anything can happen……..Bruins in 5.

 

[Boston Bandit]

 

[13Hockey]

Bruins should score 4-5 goals every single game

 

[goldnblack]

if you like GOALS, this is the series for you. Should be one of the highest scoring series of round 1 is my guess. We should see a 6-5 game in there

I'm excited. And I feel like Marchand got all his bad passes out of the way against Montreal. He's all out!

 

[13Hockey]

Panthers vs Playoff Teams

15-20-5 .437%
Goals For: 120
Goals Against: 144
-24

 

[Oates2Neely]

T&R (or whoever is subbing) said game 3 will be Friday 4/21.

I’d prefer a Friday night game over a Saturday afternoon game. I’ve never been a fan of the playoff matinee