These Boston Bruins are not used to losing streaks.
They tore the NHL apart during the regular season, winning 65 games, a single season record. They won the Presidents Trophy with a league-high 135 points, 22 points behind all other teams. He has 128 goals ahead of his opponent.
But after all their wins, their second three-game losing streak of the season wasn’t exactly timed. The Florida Panthers made a rare comeback from a 3-1 series deficit as he beat the Bruins 4-3 in overtime in Game 7 of the first-round playoff series in Boston on Sunday night. Has completed. And they did so against some of the most formidable opponents in his 106-year history of the league. The Bruins had 43 more points than the Panthers scored in the regular season.
Boston was so dominant that on Saturday night after Toronto beat Tampa Bay to win the postseason series for the first time since 2004, some Maple Leafs fans gathered outside the team’s arena chanting, “Florida I want it,” he chanted.
they got their wish.
Carter Verhege, a member of Tampa Bay’s 2020 Championship Team, won the series with a left-handed shot from the right faceoff dot through Matthew Tokachuk’s screen.
The Panthers built a 2-0 lead early in the second period, and boos erupted from angry Boston crowds. The Bruins scored three goals in a row and looked poised to move forward, but defenseman Brandon Montour scored his second goal of the game with less than a minute left to force overtime, prompting the goaltender to score. of Sergei Bobrovski was sent to the bench for an additional attacker.
By losing in the first round, the Bruins suffered the same fate as the Lightning in 2018-19. The Lightning shared his 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings record for one win in a season. That Tampa Bay his team crashed into Columbus in a four-game sweep prompting fans to apologize on social media. Of his four teams with at least 60 wins during the season, only the Montreal Canadiens, who earned a star in 1976-77, won the Stanley Cup.
The Bruins had talent across the roster this year, even under first-year coach Jim Montgomery. He has 5 players with 20+ goals and he has 5 players with 40+ assists. Star winger David Pastnerk, who signed an eight-year contract extension last month, led both categories with his career-high 61 goals and 52 assists.
At the net, Linus Ullmark’s league-leading save percentage and goals against average positioned him as the favorite to win the Vezina Trophy. also posted some great numbers.
This year, Boston became the fastest player in history to reach 50 wins. But in the end, TD Garden fans limped toward the exit after the Bruins became his 28th NHL team to lose his series in the playoffs after leading 3-1. was
Boston is now entering the offseason and must answer important questions. The team doesn’t have a lot of salary cap space, and unrestricted free agency includes his two members of recent championship teams. And David Krejci, who had one goal and two assists on Sunday. The team rallied around those veterans and he tried to deliver one more title to them.
The Bruins also don’t have any high-end draft picks. They don’t have a first or second-round pick this year, and past trades mean they may not have a pick until the fourth round in the 2024 draft.
The Panthers were outright beaten in Game 4 and were one goal away from ending the season in the next game. Instead, unlikely, they continue to play.
