The Florida Panthers solved Boston Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman, knocking him out of Game 2 in a series-tying 6-1 rout that ended with 13 players getting booted and All-Stars Matthew Tkachuk and David Pastrnak fighting.
“I’m not afraid of him, to be honest,” Boston’s Pastrnak told reporters. “I can take a punch and I’d do anything for these guys here.”
Swayman had been spectacular in the playoffs, allowing two or fewer goals (including a 5-1 win against the Panthers in Game 1 of the second round) before Wednesday and was looking strong with a 1-0 lead after one period.
But Panthers coach Paul Maurice changed up his top lines midway through the first period and Steven Lorentz, Aleksander Barkov and Gustav Forsling scored in the second period for a 3-1 Florida lead. Forsling’s goal came with less than two seconds left in the period.
Bruins coach Jim Montgomery pulled Swayman after a third-period goal by Eetu Luostarinen. Boston goalie 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 a blowout, things got out of hand. Boston’s Pat Maroon and Florida’s Nick Cousins got misconducts at 10:25, followed by the Panthers’ Luostarinen and Dmitry Kulikov and the Bruins’ Justin Brazeau, James van Riemsdyk and Trent Frederic at 11:03. Boston’s Brad Marchand and Charlie McAvoy, plus Florida’s Sam Reinhart and Niko Mikkola got misconducts at 11:58.
Matthew Tkachuk, David Pastrnak fight
Tkachuk and Pastrnak fought 44 seconds later and were also ejected.
“I’m proud of Pasta,” Montgomery said. “There’s so many guys out there pushing after a whistle when the linesmen are there. Pasta and Tkachuk, they just went out there and fought. That’s what you like. You like your hockey players to be competitors.”
Said Maurice: “It gets a little spicy out there and they want to go. I think it was awesome.”
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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 got going: Barkov had two goals and two assists, Reinhart had four assists and Brandon Montour had three points.
Florida also won Game 2 in last year’s first-round upset of the Bruins. The Panthers have home-ice advantage this year after clinching the Atlantic Division title on the final day of the season.
Why Jim Montgomery pulled Jeremy Swayman
Montgomery had thought of pulling Swayman after the second period and did when the Panthers scored the next goal, but didn’t blame the goalie, saying he was “terrific.”
Swayman and Ullmark had switched off starts down the stretch, but Swayman has started eight of the nine playoff games.
“The workload hasn’t played into Jeremy Swayman,” Montgomery said. “The workload played into our effort tonight. We didn’t have juice tonight.”
Canucks 5, Oilers 4
J.T. Miller, Nikita Zadorov and Conor Garland scored less than five minutes apart in the third period as the Vancouver Canucks completed a comeback from a 4-1 deficit to beat the Edmonton Oilers in Game 1.
Vancouver’s Dakota Joshua had a goal and two assists. Edmonton’s Zach Hyman scored twice.
Connor McDavid was held without a shot on goal for the first time in his playoff career.
Thursday’s NHL playoff games
New York Rangers at Carolina Hurricanes, 7 p.m. ET, TNT, truTV. Rangers lead series 2-0
Colorado Avalanche at Dallas Stars, 9:30 p.m. ET, TNT, truTV. Avalanche lead series 1-0
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