Home ice? Thin ice. Florida Panthers playoff hopes near-dead with 6-2 loss to Boston Bruins | Opinion
The Florida Panthers were on home ice for the first time this postseason. They gave the net back to veteran goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, of the $70 million contract. They gave the challenge to veteran captain and star Aleksander Barkov, with coach Paul Maurice saying, “He can be better.”
They were desperate, the Panthers were, in Sunday’s Game 4 of their first round NHL playoff series vs. Boston.
You saw it in the physicality, the rush of play, the skirmishes at the crease. You saw it in the urgency, Florida taking 10 shots on goal before the Bruins ever got off a first.
The Cats were desperate, yes. And better have been.
It didn’t matter. Because home ice and desperation and effort -- all of the intangibles are great. But talent is better. The better team is better.
The Panthers fell 6-2 Sunday evening to the mighty Boston Bruins to go down 3-1 in this NHL first-round playoff series, and the sound at the end, Bruins fans cheers peppering the predominant silence -- it sounded like a death knell.
At a different hockey game in a different place a long, long time ago, Al Michaels once famously asked, “Do you believe in miracles?”
It was a rhetorical question then.
For Panthers fans it would be closer to a literal ask now.
“Do you believe in miracles?”
History says it will take that.
The whole feel of this series was in play Sunday, at stake.
Teams down 3-1 in an NHL best-of-seven, like Florida now, historically have come back to win only 31 of 330 all-time series, or 9.4 percent. (Florida is 0-for- 2 in such situations).
And the opponent here, Boston, had a record-setting regular season with the most victories and points in NHL history.
Barkov: “We don’t think about whoever says what.”
“Best team ever” will not be certified unless the Bruins raise the Stanley Cup, but, for now, that’s is the Cats’ opponent and challenge.
Beat the best. Ever. Down 3-1.
A Florida win Sunday for 2-2? Then it wold have been as even as you’d expect. Teams that win Game 4 to tie a series in NHL history go on to advance a near-even 48.4 percent of the time. The Panthers are 3-2 all-time advancing from a 2-2 knot.
Now, Florida must win Game 5 Wednesday in Boston. Then win again back home. Then win a Game 7 back in Boston.
Not impossible. Just all but.
The Panthers went down 1-0 mid-first period on Brad Marchand’s wrist shot in close on a power play -- a controversial goal. The Bruins began celebrating with raised sticks right away, but the referee’s signal was not immediate, and the TNT announcers said they thought the shot had come after the whistle.
Bobrovsky had stopped the initial shot but not secured it, they said. The Panthers disagreed, with Maurice saying Boston’s put-back shot had come “after we froze the puck.” Any dispute from there was moot; it was Bruins, 1-nil.
Then it was 2-0 early in the second period on Jake DeBrunk’s deflection in close -- a second power play goal.
The series began to wilt for Florida. The Bruins won 51 of 53 games this season when leading by two goals.
Then, new life. Cats within 2-1 late in the second as Matthew Tkachuk, haunting the crease, deposited a loose puck in front of the net for a split-second turn of the game.
“I loved our start,” Maurice said. “We played a helluva game to start The game got away at the end. But we go to Boston feeling free.”
“We got a good start,” said Barkov. “We came out just the way we wanted.”
Boston regained control at 3-1 on a shot that flat beat Bobrovsky.
But the Cats weren’t done.
It was 3-2 on Sam Bennett’s goal on a relentless power play -- itself a miracle. Florida had been an infamous 1-for-31 on power plays in last year’s postseason and was 0-for-9 this postseason before Bennett finally cashed.
Boston kept being Boston, though.
It was 4-2 on DeBrusk’s deposit of a shot deflected off Bobroosky’s glove. A late fifth goal was just for show. The sixth was an empty-netter.
Don’t pin this loss on Bobrovsky.
Don’t blame Barkov, who had an active six shots.
Don’t cite the injury absence of defenseman Aaron Ekblad.
Don’t blame coaching or anything else.
Boston is better. That’s all.
Is there hope? Sure.
“We’ve been down the last two months of the year,” said Maurice of his team’s mad scramble and late run just to eke into the playoffs at all.
Don’t count us out, he meant.
But they have not been down, this kind of down, against this.
This story was originally published April 23, 2023 at 6:45 PM.
