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 [May 15, 2024]
Charlie McAvoy had a goal and an assist to help the Boston
Bruins stave off elimination with a 2-1 win against the Florida
Panthers in Game 5 of an Eastern Conference semifinal series on
Tuesday night in Sunrise, Fla.
The Panthers still lead the best-of-seven series 3-2 heading into
Game 6 on Friday night in Boston.
Morgan Geekie also scored and Jeremy Swayman made 28 saves for the
Bruins, who have never overturned a 3-1 series deficit in a
best-of-seven set in 25 previous attempts.
"We made really good decisions with the puck tonight in the first
period, which led to quality scoring chances," Boston coach Jim
Montgomery said. "Tonight was our best game of the series."
Sam Reinhart scored and Sergei Bobrovsky made 26 saves for the
Panthers, who had won three in a row to take command of the series.
Geekie gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead at 4:49 of the first period with
his fourth goal of the playoffs.
Jake DeBrusk retrieved the puck behind the Florida net and passed it
to Geekie driving toward the crease. Bobrovsky came off the goal
line to attempt a save, but Geekie pulled the puck to his backhand
and slid it into the net.
"They started well," Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov said of the
Bruins. "They came out of the gate really hard and got going right
away. ... We still had a lot of time to play better."
The Panthers were getting outshot 17-8 when Florida coach Paul
Maurice gave his team a spirited pep talk during a timeout early in
the second period.
"I thought they needed some profanity in their life, and I brought
some," Maurice said of his comments during the timeout.
Barkov won the ensuing faceoff, and the Panthers kept the puck in
the Boston zone before Aaron Ekblad took a shot from the right point
that hit Reinhart in the slot.
Swayman tried to poke the puck through the middle, but it went back
to Reinhart, who banked his shot off the post and into the net to
tie it 1-1 at 6:23.
McAvoy moved Boston back ahead, 2-1, at 10:25 of the second.
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May 14, 2024; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Boston Bruins center Morgan
Geekie (39) scores against Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei
Bobrovsky (72) during the first period in game five of the second
round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Amerant Bank Arena.
Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports
Trent Frederic entered the Florida zone off a rush
and passed the puck back to Charlie Coyle, who dropped it for McAvoy.
The Boston defenseman had room to skate between the hashmarks and
score with a wrist shot.
Boston forward Danton Heinen made contact with Bobrovsky just before
McAvoy's goal, prompting the Panthers to challenge for goaltender
interference, but the goal was upheld after a video review.
Bobrovsky kept it a one-goal deficit when he turned away DeBrusk on
a breakaway with 5:35 left in the second period. He also stopped
Pavel Zacha on a short-handed breakaway at 2:13 of the third.
Boston played its second straight game without team captain Brad
Marchand, who was injured late in Game 3 on a hit to the head by the
Panthers' Sam Bennett. Marchand (three goals, seven assists) is tied
with DeBrusk (five goals, five assists) for the Bruins' lead in
points during the postseason.
Montgomery said postgame that Marchand is day-to-day.
Maurice added, "There will be 60 cameras at morning skate to see if
Brad Marchand takes a sip of water."
--Field Level Media
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