Bruins’ Jakub Lauko Dumbfounded By Controversial Game 3 Penalty

BOSTON — Jakub Lauko was skating toward the Panthers’ net when Aaron Ekblad grabbed a hold of the back of the Boston jersey and forced the Bruins forward into Florida goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky.

Instead of calling a holding penalty on Ekblad, Lauko was whistled for goaltender interference at 2:07 of the third period.

“I was trying to get to the net and just ended up in the goalie,” Lauko told reporters after the Bruins’ loss. “I don’t know. I felt that the defense was holding me and kind of pushing me inside, so I don’t know what I was supposed to do to avoid it.”

While Lauko was in the penalty box, the Panthers capitalized on the man advantage to extend their lead to 4-0. Lauko said he was not given an explanation as to why he was whistled for the penalty instead of Ekblad.

“It’s hard to accept, but it’s part of the game, and we need to play through it,” Lauko said.

The Bruins forward was visibly upset in the penalty box and so were the TD Garden faithful. Fans littered the ice with water bottles and cans. When Lauko was asked about his emotions in the penalty box, he took the high road.

“I don’t think I can say it to the camera right now,” he said. “So, I’ll skip that question.”

On Lauko’s next shift following his penalty, Jeremy Swayman made his way to the Boston bench with Florida being called for a delayed penalty. The Bruins never made it to the man advantage — Lauko scored his first career playoff goal.

“We know we can score goals,” Lauko said. “We just need to get to those opportunities more often. Be in front of (Bobrovsky), be going hard to the net, and we know he can give up some goals.”

The Bruins will look to even up the second-round series in Game 4 on Sunday night.