The Bruins relied on the depth of their roster when they defeated the Florida Panthers, 4-2, on Friday night at FLA Live Arena to reclaim control in their Stanley Cup playoffs first-round series.
With the best-of-seven series tied at one, the Bruins were without two key members of the franchise when they faced off against the Panthers in the pivotal Game 3 — captain Patrice Bergeron didn’t travel with the team, and second-line center David Krejci was a last-minute scratch with an upper-body injury.
Boston relied on their depth and their ability to play “Bruins hockey” throughout the 60 minutes affair.
“I thought we dug it in the whole time, you know, I know we made a mistake on the short-handed goal, and when the pulled goalie situation, that’s going to happen,” Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery said on NESN’s postgame coverage. “But I just loved the way they just battled for each other, and that’s Bruins hockey. That’s what we’ve come to expect. And now we got to that level in the playoffs, now we got to maintain and surpass it.”
The Bruins were able to control the pace of the game by executing passes through the neutral zone and collapsing on the Panthers’ lanes while in their own end.
“I thought the effort led to really high-end execution. And I think it led to us being able to get pucks,” Montgomery said. “I thought we had a lot of odd-man rushes that we didn’t take advantage of. So we can keep the same effort and execution and then just finish those plays that normally our players finish.
“… That’s just our players. We always say when we have time, we want to push and go north, and I thought a lot of our game plan was to try just to play north.”
Dmitry Orlov must have heard Montgomery’s message of going north because the 31-year-old defenseman notched two assists in the win when he fed Taylor Hall on the first goal of the game and then again in the third when he hit David Pastrnak in stride for Boston’s third goal and the eventual game-winner.
Here are more notes from Friday’s Bruins-Panthers Game 3:
— Dmitry Orlov recorded two assists in the game, bringing his playoff total to four through the first three games. He is the second defenseman, joining Glen Wesley, to record at least three points in their first three playoff games with the Bruins.
“Especially after the second game we didn’t play well in a big loss you know, in our focus was to have a good start,” Orlov told reports on NESN’s postgame coverage. “And I think really the most of the game we managed the puck, you know, and it was important for us in this game.”
— Sergei Bobrovsky relieved Alex Lyon in the third period after David Pastrnak’s second goal of the series. Bobrovsky saved the first four shots he faced before Nick Foligno scored his first of the playoffs at 11:45 of the third. Foligno was originally supposed to be out of the lineup to allow Jakub Lauko his first action in the playoffs, but suited up when David Krejci was a late scratch with an upper-body injury.
“I just loved our compete. I love our attitude and all night and just, the mindset that we had, and that’s what allowed us to finish the game the way we did,” Foligno said, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “… I think if our team plays with that mindset, that mentality, that attitude, you know, I think it’s going to bode well for us going further down the series.
— The Bruins were perfect on the penalty kill, going 2-for-2 shorthanded, and remain superb in the postseason stopping all seven attempts by the Panthers.
— The Bruins will look to sweep the two games in Sunrise on Sunday against the Florida Panthers. Puck drop from FLA Live Arena is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET. You can catch all the action, plus an hour of pregame coverage, on NESN.
