Bruins vs. Panthers Game 3: Three keys to victory for B’s on home ice originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
The Boston Bruins needed to win at least one road game in their Eastern Conference second-round series versus the Florida Panthers, and they got that victory in Game 1.
But their performance in Game 2 — a lopsided 6-1 defeat — highlighted a couple areas that still need significant improvement as the series shifts to Boston for Games 3 and 4 at TD Garden.
Home ice hasn’t been much of an advantage for the B’s in recent playoff runs. They have a 3-5 record (1-3 in OT) with 2.75 goals scored and 2.75 goals allowed per game at home in the playoffs since the start of last season.
Let’s look at three ways the Bruins can take a 2-1 series lead with a Game 3 victory Friday night.
Top-six players need to step up
The Panthers’ top-six forwards have already made a strong impact in this series. Matthew Tkachuk scored in Game 1. Aleksander Barkov picked up an assist in Game 1, then scored two goals with two assists in Game 2. Sam Reinhart tied a Panthers playoff record with four points (all assists) in Game 2.
Florida has a ton of offensive firepower, even if center Sam Bennett doesn’t play. The Panthers have scored three or more goals in six of their seven games in the playoffs so far.
Unless Jeremy Swayman neutralizes the Panthers offense a couple more times — like he did in the series opener — the Bruins will have to score a lot more goals to reach the next round. And even though they got good contributions from depth players in Game 1, it’s the stars who really need to show up.
David Pastrnak played well to begin Game 1, but he was very quiet in Game 2 with zero shots. The superstar right wing scored the Bruins’ most important goal of the playoffs so far — Game 7 overtime winner vs. Leafs — but it’s the only time he’s found the back of the net in the last five games.
Pavel Zacha has three assists in two games versus Florida, but he also is looking for his first goal of the playoffs. In fact, Zacha still doesn’t have a goal in 19 career playoff games.
Brad Marchand earned an assist in Game 1 and Game 2, but he also hasn’t scored in his last five games. The captain also has tallied just three shots over the last three games combined. Charlie Coyle scored Boston’s only goal Wednesday night, but it was his only goal in nine playoff games so far.
The Bruins need Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm — two offensively gifted defensemen — to generate some scoring, too. McAvoy has gone 27 consecutive playoff games without a goal, and he hasn’t tallied a single point over his last five games. Lindholm had a great Game 7 against Toronto, but he’s been held without a point with just two shots in the second round so far.
These top-six forwards, plus McAvoy, also play a prominent role on the Bruins power play. That unit has scored zero goal with just seven shots in 16:35 of time with the man advantage over the last five games.
The Bruins need a little more scoring from their top guns to take control of this series.
Limit defensive breakdowns, bad penalties
The Panthers are very aggressive with their forecheck, and it often leads to turnovers that end up in their opponent’s net. This was the case in Game 2. The Bruins failed to clear the puck from the d-zone right before the Panthers’ second and third goals.
Failed clearing attempts weren’t the only defensive miscues for the B’s in Game 2. McAvoy and Marchand also screened Swayman on Florida’s third goal. If you’re going to skate in your goalie’s path, you have to block the shot.
Turnovers were a huge issue for Boston, too. They were credited with 14 giveaways in Game 2. McAvoy had three of them, and he actually leads all players in the playoffs with 16. Lindholm is tied for the second-most giveaways with 11. Two other Bruins — Marchand and Brandon Carlo — are in the top 10.
The Bruins also need to be a little more disciplined. They took their fifth too many men on the ice penalty of the playoffs in Game 2. Entering Thursday, the other 15 teams in the playoffs combined to take that penalty just four times. One too many men on the ice penalty is bad — five of them in nine games is just inexcusable.
The Panthers went 0-for-3 on the power play in Game 1, then started out 0-for-4 in Game 2 before eventually finishing 1-for-6 after the game got out of hand in the third period. The Bruins have been the second-best penalty kill team (90 percent success rate) in the playoffs so far, but they’re playing with fire by giving the Panthers so many power plays each game.
Florida has a ton of elite talent on its power play units. It doesn’t take much for that group to start firing on all cylinders.
Channel emotion from Game 2 the right way
The Bruins deserve some credit for not backing down when the score got out of hand in the third period of Game 2 and the Panthers tried to bully them. Pat Maroon didn’t back down, and neither did Marchand, Trent Frederic and several others.
Included in that group was Pastrnak. Tkachuk asked to fight him and the Bruins superstar didn’t shy away, even though he probably knew the fight wouldn’t go well for him.
“I’m not afraid of him, to be honest,” Pastrnak said postgame when asked about the fight, via the NESN broadcast. “I can take a punch, and I’d do anything for these guys here.”
Pastrnak received a lot of praise for fighting Tkachuk. Former NHL player Mike Rupp said he even got goosebumps from watching it. He also noted that when a superstar player joins the proverbial fight like that, it can really lift an entire team. Rupp loved the message that Pastrnak sent.
TD Garden will be absolutely rocking for Game 3 on Friday night. Yes, it’s the beginning of a weekend, but the way Game 2 ended will have fans really fired up. What happened in the last 10 minutes of Game 2 should give the Bruins a ton of energy as well. But it’s important for them to channel that emotion in the right way. The B’s can’t let it lead to mistakes, like stupid penalties or taking yourself out of a play just to make a huge hit.
Tkachuk tried to bait the Bruins into penalties right from the start of Game 2, and he was successful just 17 seconds into the game when Justin Brazeau took Tkachuk’s helmet off and was given a two-minute minor for roughing, thus putting the Panthers on the power play.
If the Bruins use the emotion from Game 2 in a positive way, it could lead to a fast start and maybe a goal or two in the first period Friday night.
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