SUNRISE, Fla. — The Bruins still have a long way to go if they are to become the first Black-and-Gold team to come back from a 3-1 series deficit.
But step one was completed on Tuesday night at Amerant Bank Arena with a heart-stopping 2-1 win over the Florida Panthers to send the series back to Boston for Friday’s Game 6.
The B’s got a disputed goal of their own in the second period from Charlie McAvoy and then the B’s survived their record-tying sixth too-many-men penalty. Facing over three minutes of 6-on-5 time, the B’s managed to kill the clock.
Jeremy Swayman, who outdueled a brilliant Sergei Bobrovsky, first made a great, alert save on Brandon Montour’s between the legs backhander and finally made a huge stop on Sam Reinhart, alone from the bottom of the left circle, in the waning seconds.
Swayman (28 saves) wasn’t as busy as he has been in most playoff games this year, but it might have been the most clutch performance in his young career.
“Overall he’s a very confident kid. You could see that from day one he came to the locker room,” said David Pastrnak. “Quite honest, that’s what you need from the goalie. He has that healthy cockiness. That’s the only word I can come up with. But in a good way.”
And McAvoy had his most impactful game of the playoffs, scoring the winner and assisting on the first goal of the game. He had come into the game without a shot on net in the series.
“I thought Game 4 Charlie asserted himself really well. Maybe it wasn’t as clean with the puck as we usually see him. But that big hit on Reinhart …,” said coach Jim Montgomery. “He’s extremely competitive. He’s kind of quiet, doesn’t say much. But you saw him talking a lot tonight on the bench and his play was instrumental in our victory. And I think the goal for him was huge.”
The B’s never trailed but, with their season hanging in the balance, there were plenty of nervous moments.
The Bruins had been outshot 107-50 in Games 2-4 and for Game 5, they decided to abandon their quality-over-quantity approach to shot selection.
They outshot the Panthers, 13-4, in the first period – it was the lowest shot total in a period for Florida in the playoffs – and took a 1-0 lead on a play in which they simply got the puck toward the net. McAvoy threw the puck behind the Florida net and Jake DeBrusk beat Oliver Ekman-Larsson to it on the left side, came out on the other side of the net and fed Morgan Geekie out front. Geekie took the puck to his backhand and lifted it over Bobrovsky’s outstretched stick for a 1-0 lead at 4:49.
The Panthers had come into Game 5 with a 21-9 advantage in power plays and that was mostly because of their territorial dominance. But the B’s had been the ones dominating possession early in this one. Charlie Coyle took the first penalty of the game on a phantom hooking penalty. But the B’s were able to kill it off without much trouble. There was also a 4-on-4 that didn’t produce much.
When the B’s got their first power play after Carter Verhaeghe gloved the puck early in the second period, they did nothing with the opportunity as the Panthers were continually able to clear the zone and prevent the B’s from setting anything up.
That kill gave the Panthers their first semblance of momentum and, coming out of the first TV timeout, they tied the game at 6:23 after Florida coach Paul Maurice tore into his team.
Swayman could not handle a long distance shot with his glove and the Panthers maintained possession. Eventually, Reinhart popped home a loose puck from the slot at 6:23.
But the B’s regained the lead at 10:25 on – you guessed it – a controversial goal interference non-call. McAvoy finished off a pretty rush play. Trent Frederic dropped the puck for Coyle and spotted McAvoy coming off the bench and the defenseman buried it.
“Chuckie came off (the bench) like an animal,” said Coyle.
Maurice challenged for goalie interference. With Danton Heinen in front, Bobrovsky lost his stick and there was also some contact between Bobrovsky’s and Heinen’s skates. But after a lengthy review, the goal was allowed to stand. According to the ESPN broadcast, it was because Bobrovsky was able to reset.
Coyle had been the victim of Sam Bennett’s crosscheck that knocked him into Swayman on the tying goal in the Game 4 loss. What did he think when it went for a review?
“Not good things,” said Coyle with a laugh.
McAvoy figured the law of averages was on the B’s side.
“I’m like ‘this one has to go our way,’ ” said McAvoy with a broad smile. “I was just hoping. I saw on the play, had my head up and he seemed square to me, that he was able to square and it was just one-on-one. It didn’t look like he was interfered with, so I just kept thinking it was a fair play.”
The B’s, however, did nothing with the ensuing power play. In fact, at the end of the PP, Mason Lohrei hauled down Eetu Luostarinen, putting the Panthers on the advantage.
But Florida could not capitalize and, at the end of it, the Panthers needed not one but two brilliant saves from Bobrovsky. DeBrusk created a shorthanded breakaway for himself and the netminder not only stoned him, but he somehow stopped Trent Frederic on the follow-up, keeping it a one-goal game going into the third.
Bobrovsky made a few more great saves in the third, including one on Pastrnak, who was all alone in front of the net late in the game.
But Swayman stood tall in the final moments. And now the B’s have a chance to make things interesting, and maybe some club history. The are 0-for-25 in playoff series in which they were trailing 3-1. The series is now getting interesting, beyond the nastiness and controversy that had marked the series.
“Never say die,” said McAvoy. “We’re going home and this series is wide open. Let’s go home and win a hockey game.”
