Panthers win Game 6, extend series versus Bruins

For the second game in a row, the Boston Bruins took the ice against the Florida Panthers with their sights set on the second round. For the second game in a row, they were unable to finish the job.

The Panthers got on the board first, which was important, as the team that scored first was 5-0 in this series. From there, Game 6 looked an awful lot like Game 5 in the sense that every time the Cats would take a one-goal lead, the B’s would tie the game.

What helped Boston pull even and prevent Florida from gaining a multi-goal lead was special teams. The Bruins scored their first two goals of the contest on the power play. Boston’s power play has haunted Florida in this series, and it once again got the better of the Panthers.

The Bruins were again unable to eliminate the Panthers.

The big turning point in the game came in the second period when the Bruins scored to take their first lead of the game. However, a challenge by the Panthers alleged that there was a hand pass prior to the goal, and they turned out to be right. Not long after, it was the Cats that went ahead.

After 40 minutes in Game 6, the Panthers found themselves a period away from doing what most fans thought was impossible: get to Game 7. However, the Bruins had other ideas.

Boston showed that it had no desire to play in a winner-take-all game when it scored two goals early in the period to take its first lead of the game (for real this time). Not long after, though, the Panthers knotted things up at four goals apiece.

As it turned out, the dull games early in the series were paving the way for some action-packed games later on, as the third period was only getting started with those three early goals. In seemingly the blink of an eye, six goals had been scored, and the Panthers were up 6-5.

An empty net goal sealed the deal for the Panthers, as they evened this first-round series at three games apiece.

Without question, this was as loud as the Sunrise crowd had been all series. That’s what will happen when the fans are treated to what was easily the best game of the series.

Two players that had been quiet in this matchup chipped in offensively in this one. David Pastrnak scored an incredible between-the-legs goal for the Bruins, then added his second of the game and fourth of the playoffs. Meanwhile, Aleksander Barkov notched his first goal of this series.

This contest was clearly all about the offense as neither netminder posted a save percentage better than .853. The leading scorers for each team were Brad Marchand (four assists) and Matthew Tkachuk (three points).

I’m not sure that Game 7 will live up to the 12-goal performance in Game 6, but it is sure to be exciting as this series has ramped up in a big way. That winner-take-all game will be Sunday, April 30.