Bruins Edge Panthers in Game 5, Fend Off Elimination – Hockey Writers – NHL News
The Boston Bruins defeated the Florida Panthers 2-1 to take Game 5 and avoid elimination in the second round of their 2024 Stanley Cup Playoff series.
Morgan Geekie opened the scoring for the Bruins in the first half when he deflected the ball past Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky.
After dominating the first 25 minutes of the game, Panthers coach Paul Maurice gave a fiery speech to his team during the TV stoppage in the second half. The Panthers responded quickly after that when Sam Reinhart put a shot past Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman. Reinhart (4-1 goals-1 assist-5 points in 8 games) recorded his fourth goal in as many games to pass Aleksander Barkov (3-4-7 in 8 GP) and Bill Lindsay (3 -2-5 in 4 GP) for only second place on the franchise's all-time list. Carter Verhaeghe (6-5—11 in 8 GP) leads the way.
Four minutes later, Charlie McAvoy responded with a goal. In what has been a minor theme in the series, the Panthers challenged the goal on goaltender interference, but the goal was upheld as the NHL's operations center determined there was no goaltender interference.
McAvoy (1-9—10 in 15 GP) recorded his first career goal in the playoffs. He tied Zdeno Chara (2-8—10 in 25 GP) and Andrew Ference (2-8—10 in 11 GP) for the third-most points in any game by a Bruins defenseman.
Swayman had 28 saves in the win, while Bobrovsky had 26 saves for the Panthers.
The Bruins forced a Game 6 after facing a 3-1 series deficit for the eighth time in franchise history. Boston has fallen to Game 6 in every series except the 2009 conference semifinals and the 2008 conference quarterfinals.
News and notes
Brad Marchand did not play against the Panthers in Game 5. The Bruins captain participated in the morning skate but missed his second straight game. He was slow to return to the bench after being hit by Panthers forward Sam Bennett with 3:38 left in the first half of Friday's 6-2 Game 3 loss. He played the first and second half but did not return for the third.
Related: 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs Round 2 Hub
Entering the playoffs, the road team had 32 wins, tied for fourth-most in this postseason (60 GP) in NHL history. The only playoff years with more were 2023 (35), 2012 (35), and 1987 (34), a streak the Bruins continued with their Game 5 victory.
The two teams will meet in Game 6 on Friday, May 17, at the TD Garden Arena in Boston.
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