Recap: Bruins score five unanswered goals to take Game 1 over Florida, 5-1

Well that was something.

After a heavy Florida start and a game-opening goal from Matthew Tkachuk resulting from a turnover, you could be forgiven for thinking “here we go again.”

However, the Bruins turned the tables on the Panthers after that goal, using an aggressive forecheck to force turnovers and put pressure on the Panthers, who bent and broke.

The B’s scored three times in just under seven minutes after Tkachuk’s goal before adding two more in the third to skate out of Amerant Bank Arena with a 5-1 win.

While the score implies a comfortable result, Jeremy Swayman (stop me if you’ve heard this one before) deserves a ton of credit, making 38 saves in the win.

The game began as you’d expect, with a heavy Florida forecheck causing some problems — including forcing a big save out of Swayman less than a minute into the game.

While Florida had the better of the chances early, the B’s actually ended up outshooting the Panthers 14-9 in what would be a scoreless first.

I will try to limit this when possible because we’re all sick of hearing about it, but this sequence looked a whole lot like last spring: clean possession for the Bruins turned into a turnover that led to a Florida goal, with Tkachuk making it 1-0 Florida midway through the second.

Just over a minute later, a combination of a good forecheck and either a turnover or a lucky bounce off the official led to Morgan Geekie cashing in and making it a 1-1 game.

After killing off their 302nd too many men penalty of the postseason a few minutes after Geekie’s goal, the Bruins forced another turnover in the offensive zone.

This time, it was Mason Lohrei taking advantage with a gorgeous shot to make it 2-1 Bruins late in the second.

If Lohrei’s goal was late in the second then Brandon Carlo, a brand new dad, made his mark LATE LATE in the second with a shot that was almost as beautiful as Lohrei’s — and made it 3-1 Bruins heading into the third.

The Panthers applied a decent spell of pressure early in the third, including a net-front scramble that was smothered by Swayman — who found it all very amusing.

Not to be outdone by Lohrei, Justin Brazeau got in on the fun by scoring a beautiful first playoff goal of his own, making it 4-1 Bruins midway through the third.

The Panthers would pull the goalie with around five minutes left and get a few shots on net, but it was ultimately Jake DeBrusk who benefited most by scoring the empty-netter to make it 5-1 Bruins.

It was a pretty standard empty-netter, so use your imagination.

And that was it! Aside from a late-period scrum that saw Trent Frederic and Pat Maroon mixing it up with all kinds of Panthers, that was it!

5-1, Bruins win Game 1!

Game notes

• Swayman was outstanding again in this game, particularly early. He certainly rewarded Jim Montgomery for resisting the calls of some (not mocking those who had that opinion, as it wasn’t unreasonable) to give Swayman a rest and let Ullmark start Game 1.
• It’s silly to draw too many conclusions from a single game. The Panthers had been sitting for a bit, the Bruins were fresh off of a massive win, lots of things went right, etc. However, I was struck by how effective the B’s were at forcing Florida into mistakes, just like the Panthers did to them last spring. When the Bruins forced those turnovers, they cashed in. At one point, I believe they scored on something like four of five shots.
• The Panthers thought there was a missed high stick on Anton Lundell just before the Brazeau goal, which will give them something to whine about for the next couple of days.
• I’m not sure if what happened tonight was even secondary scoring or if was tertiary scoring. If you’d been told before the game that David Pastrnak, Brad Marchand, Charlie Coyle, etc. wouldn’t score, it’d be understandable to be a bit concerned. Instead, it was the guys after the guys (after those guys) who stepped up.
• While the Geekie goal was arguably the “ugliest” (i.e. not a highlight-reel goal) of the non-empty-netters, you could argue it was the kind of goal the B’s will need most in this series: scrambly, chaotic, get-to-the-net effectiveness.
• Neither team scored on the power play tonight, with the teams combing for five power play opportunities.
• Hits are a highly subjective stat, but the Bruins outhit Florida 69-54. Nice.
• Lohrei was the night’s only player to record multiple points, as he also assisted on Brazeau’s goal.
• Bobrvosky posted a .857 save percentage in this game, the fourth time in six playoff games this postseason that he’s ended up sub-.900.

The Bruins will now get a brief breather after their whirlwind 48 hours, as they’ll get to practice without travel Tuesday ahead of Wednesday’s Game 2.