the Florida Panthers Solved Boston Bruins Goaltender Jeremy Swayman was ejected from the second game in a series tie 6-1 defeat That ended with 13 players being ejected and All-Stars Matthew Tkachuk and David Pastrnak fighting.
“I’m not afraid of him, to be honest. I can take a punch and I will do anything for these guys here,” Boston’s Pastrnak told reporters.
Swayman had been impressive in the playoffs, allowing two or fewer goals (including a 5-1 win over the Panthers in Game 1 of the second round) before Wednesday and was looking solid with a 1-0 lead after one period.
But Panthers coach Paul Morris changed his main lines midway through the first period, and Steven Lorentz, Aleksander Barkov and Gustav Forsling scored in the second period, giving Florida a 3-1 lead. Forsling’s goal came less than two seconds before the end of the first half.
Bruins coach Jim Montgomery pulled Swayman after a third-period goal by Eetu Luostarinen. Boston goaltender Linus Ullmark, playing for the first time since Game 2 of the first round, gave up two goals on 10 shots.
As is usual in an explosion, things got out of control. Boston’s Pat Maroon and Florida’s Nick Cousins were given foul plays at 10:25, followed by Luostarinen, the Panthers’ Dmitry Kulikov, the Bruins’ Justin Brazeau, James van Riemsdyk, and Trent Frederic at 11:03. Boston’s Brad Marchand and Charlie McAvoy, as well as Florida’s Sam Reinhart and Niko Mikkola, were flagged for foul play at 11:58.
Matthew Tkachuk and David Pastrnak fight
Tkachuk and Pastrnak fought back 44 seconds later and were also ejected.
“I’m proud of my pasta,” Montgomery said. “There’s a lot of players that press after the whistle when the linesmen are there. Basta and Kkachuk, they just came out and battled. That’s what you want. You like your hockey players to be competitors.”
“It’s kind of hot and they want to go. I thought it was great,” Morris said.
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What the Florida Panthers accomplished in Game 2
They beat the Bruins for the first time in six games this season and scored a power-play goal against Boston for the first time. They also got a shorthanded goal.
Their stars are starting to emerge: Barkov had two goals and two assists, Reinhart had four assists, and Brandon Montour had three points.
Game 3 will be Friday in Boston.
Florida also won the second game in last year’s first round against the Bruins. The Panthers have home-ice advantage this year after winning the Atlantic Division title on the final day of the season.
Why did Jim Montgomery pull Jeremy Swayman?
Montgomery had considered pulling Swayman after the second half and did so when the Panthers scored the next goal, but he did not blame the goalkeeper, saying he was “fantastic.”
Swayman and Ullmark were initially suspended, but Swayman started eight of the nine playoff games.
“Workload didn’t play a role for Jeremy Swayman,” Montgomery said. “The workload played a role in our effort tonight. We just didn’t have the juice tonight.”
Canucks 5, Oilers 4
JT Miller, Nikita Zadorov and Connor Garland scored less than five minutes into the third period as the Vancouver Canucks came back from a 4-1 deficit to defeat the Edmonton Oilers in Game 1.
Vancouver’s Dakota Joshua scored a goal and two assists. Edmonton’s Zach Hyman scored two goals.
Connor McDavid was held without a shot on goal for the first time in his playoff career.
NHL playoff games are on Thursday
New York Rangers at Carolina Hurricanes, 7 p.m. ET, TNT, truTV. Rangers lead the series 2-0
Colorado Avalanche at Dallas Stars, 9:30 p.m. ET, TNT, truTV. Avalanche Series 1-0
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