How the Florida Panthers Shocked the NHL World and Ousted the Record-Breaking Boston Bruins in Game 7
In an unexpected turn of events, the Florida Panthers 4-3 overtime victory in Game 7 has ousted the Boston Bruins from the Stanley Cup playoffs' opening round. After falling behind 3-1 in the series, the Panthers came back with three straight victories to defeat Boston. Defenseman Brandon Montour's goal with one minute remaining in regulation gave them the opportunity to force overtime. The Toronto Maple Leafs, who defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games to win their first playoff series since 2004, will be their opponent in the second round.
The 2022–23 Bruins established league records for wins (65) and points (135) in a season, making them the most successful regular-season team in NHL history. However, the pressure of leading the NHL from start to finish came along with that success. Boston also had to contend with the NHL's "Presidents' Trophy Curse," which proposes that the top regular-season team typically performs poorly in the postseason. Since the first awarding of the trophy in the 1985–86 season, 11 regular-season champions have advanced to the Stanley Cup Final, with eight of them taking home the trophy. Since the NHL adopted the wild-card structure in 2013–14, no Presidents' Trophy winner has made it to the Stanley Cup Final.
The Bruins are the most recent regular-season standings leaders to be ousted in the first round of the playoffs, joining the 2018–19 Tampa Bay Lightning, whose regular-season wins Boston had eclipsed this season. By chance, the Columbus Blue Jackets goalie Sergei Bobrovsky and the Panthers' general manager Bill Zito were both with the Blue Jackets when they swept the Lightning in the first round.
Before Game 7, the Bruins made their riskiest coaching choice of the series by starting the 24-year-old Swayman in place of starting goalie Linus Ullmark. Ullmark started the first six games of the series against the Panthers, even though Boston alternated between the two goalies during the regular season. Swayman hadn't started a game since the Bruins' season finale against Montreal on April 13, despite making a brief stint in Game 4.
As the pregame lineups were announced at TD Garden before Game 7, the crowd erupted in loud cheers for Swayman. But the crowd quickly became frustrated as the Bruins hesitated to take shots on goal and committed three minor penalties in the first period. In the last seconds of a first-period power play, the Panthers scored first on a stunning give-and-go move.
Sam Reinhart's fourth postseason goal, a shot past Swayman from the slot, gave Florida a 2-0 lead at 1:14 of the second period. David Krejci, Boston's most dependable playoff performer, gave the team its first goal at 7:52. A tripping penalty put defenseman Marc Staal in the box, and Krejci's shot from the left side beat Bobrovsky.
Following a roughing penalty against Montour, drawn by David Pastrnak, the Bruins were able to tie the game early in the third period while on the power play. Just 55 seconds into the period, defenseman Dmitry Orlov's shot was tipped by forward Tyler Bertuzzi.
At 4:11 in the third, Pastrnak began to play the role of the hero. Defenseman Brandon Carlo's shot smacked off goalie Sergei Bobrovsky's pads straight to Pastrnak, who scored his fifth goal of the series to give Boston its first lead of Game 7. Pastrnak then leaped up against the glass in celebration in front of an increasingly intense and energetic TD Garden crowd.
But when the Panthers tied Game 7 at 3-3 with one minute remaining in regulation, and Bobrovsky pulled, the stunned crowd was left speechless. Patrice Bergeron, the captain of the Boston Bruins, blocked Aleksander Barkov's shot from the top of the zone, but it went right to Montour, who buried the rebound past a flailing Swayman to force OT. The Panthers completed their stunning comeback in overtime, and Carter Verhaeghe scored the game-winning goal to put an end to Boston's Stanley Cup dreams despite the Bruins' heroic efforts.
The Bruins and their fans can find comfort in the fact that they had a fantastic regular season and were the league's top team for a large portion of it, despite the fact that they are obviously dissatisfied. As history has demonstrated, success in the regular season does not always translate into success in the postseason. The Bruins will now need to refocus on the upcoming season, where they will certainly return fired up for a second opportunity at postseason success.
The Panthers will take on the Toronto Maple Leafs in the second round as they continue their remarkable postseason journey. The Panthers have demonstrated that they are a force to be reckoned with in the playoffs with their tenacity and capacity to recover from the verge of elimination. The Stanley Cup playoffs' second round is about to start, and hockey fans everywhere can expect an entertaining and unpredictable ride.