Recap: Bruins season comes to end with 2-1 loss to Panthers in Game 6

Is it October yet?

The Boston Bruins were eliminated from the playoffs, falling to the Florida Panthers, 2-1, in Game 6 of the second round, at the TD Garden on Friday night.

Gustav Forsling scored a late third-period goal, sneaking one past Jeremy Swayman, to seal his team’s fate and advance the Panthers to the Eastern Conference Finals.

“I thought we started the game off great and it got away from us in the second,” Jim Montgomery said.

With Brad Marchand back in the lineup, the Bruins came out strong, attacking the net and testing Sergei Bobrovsky early on. The B’s broke through in the first period’s final minute, on Pavel Zacha’s first postseason goal of his career as he skated in the offensive zone down the center lane and lifted a backhander under the crossbar.

But the Panthers pushed in the second and the Bruins had a hard time pushing back. They couldn’t get anything going through the neutral zone. As the Panthers pressed, the Bruins started to spend more time defending, but again, not able to win board battles.

Anton Lundell tied the game for Florida as the Bruins tried to clear their d zone and he picked up the loose puck in the slot.

Although the shot clock had Bruins edging out the Panthers 9-8 in shots during the third period, the momentum leaned toward Florida. Swayman has been excellent all postseason, but a fluke type of shot, as Forsling snuck the puck short side past Swayman’s stick and the post with 93 seconds left in the third. The Bruins had some chances as time ticked down, but Forsling’s goal became the eventual game-winner to punch their ticket to the next round.

“From where we started, expectations to start the season, everbody wrote us out and said we wouldn’t be a playoff team,” Marchand said. “We were one of the best teams.”

“From where we started to where we finished, I couldn’t be more proud of the guys.”

Here are the highlights:

First period:

The Bruins opened the scoring at 19:07 of the first period.

Jake DeBrusk sent a forwarding pass to Pavel Zacha where he picked it up at the blue line and came down the center lane and lifted a backhanded shot past Sergei Bobrovsky’s glove shoulder and under the crossbar. 1-0 Bruins.

Second period:

The Panthers tied the game at 14:44 of the second period.

After the Bruins couldn’t clear the puck from the front of the net, the loose puck found Anton Lundell in the slot where he put a quick shot past Jeremy Swayman’s glove. 1-1 game.

Third period:

The Panthers scored with 18:27 of the third period.

Lundell fired a long wrist shot at Swayman who made the initial save. Gustav Forsling picked up the loose puck inside the left-wing circle where he quickly threw a shot on net that snuck past Swayman and the post. Final score; 2-1 Panthers.

Game notes:

• First off, SCOC wants to thank this community for following along all season. We appreciate all your comments during the year, after the good and the bad and everything in between. It’s been quite the Centennial year and we are not here without all of you.
• While this was not the outcome the Bruins wanted or expected, I think although elimination is hard to swallow, there are some silver linings throughout the playoffs and regular season which are hopeful for next year.
• First, the Bruins have promise in Justin Brazeau and Parker Wotherspoon. It was exciting to see how those types of guys rose to the occasion in the playoffs. And most promising, and obvious, is Swayman’s performance.
• It probably stings the most that the season ended on a goal like that, but no one can fault Swayman who gave the team a chance to win each night. His level of competitiveness and focus was unmatched and he was the best player out there for the Bruins.
• Montgomery soundbite: “The lack of our ability to score in the playoffs in general, you can’t win every game 2-1,” Montgomery said. Outside of Game 1, the Bruins didn’t score more than two goals in a game.
• It felt like a broken record to say game after game this series, but the Bruins just couldn’t score. In the two games they won, they had 28 and 29 SOG. But this series saw the team have nights only getting 15 or 17 shots on net or ending a third period with only two shots. Tonight, they had 23 and quality chances, especially in the beginning and in desperation at the end, but which there wasn’t enough finish.
• Montgomery said his team had opportunities in Game 6, like several odd-man rushes, but again, not enough finish. He also felt the Bruins played too much in their defensive zone in the second and third period.
• Because the Bruins spent more time in their zone, Montgomery thought the defensemen iced the puck more than they needed to, but that fatigue, mental and physical, likely played into those decisions.
• Marchand returned for Game 6 after missing the previous two games, He said postgame that he “pushed it to come back.” He said the only reason he came out the game and was in protocols was because doctors forced him into it.
• Other revelations postgame included Jake DeBrusk saying he played with a broken hand from about bye week and didn’t heal until right before playoffs. DeBrusk had a great forwarding pass tonight on Zacha’s goal.
• Signing off for now, but stay tuned to SCOC for Breakdown Day and the offseason. We can imagine it’s going to get busy! But how many days until the 2024-25 season begins??