Panthers in awe after ousting ‘unbelievable’ Bruins

BOSTON — The Boston Bruins, who set NHL records for regular-season success, have been eliminated in the Stanley Cup playoffs’ opening round after a 4-3 Game 7 overtime win by the Florida Panthers on Sunday night.

Winger Carter Verhaeghe‘s goal 8:35 into overtime sent the Panthers into a wild celebration and left Bruins fans in stunned silence.

Florida’s Sam Bennett fought hard on the forecheck to move the puck to Verhaeghe. With Matthew Tkachuk screening goalie Jeremy Swayman, Verhaeghe found room to score his second of the series.

“It hasn’t sunk in yet,” said Tkachuk, staring at a postgame score sheet. “The talent they have over there in Boston is unbelievable. That we were able to do what we did after what they did all year … the fact that we were able to beat them in the playoffs is crazy.”

Florida advances to face the Toronto Maple Leafs in the second round. The Leafs eliminated the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games, winning their first playoff series since 2004.

“The way it ended didn’t matter. It’s just that the season’s over. I guess the words that come to mind right now are disappointment and confusion,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said.

The Panthers completed their comeback after trailing 3-1 in the series, winning three straight games to eliminate Boston. They rallied to force overtime on a goal by defenseman Brandon Montour with a minute left in regulation.

“We were two minutes away from being in a very sad mood right now,” Tkachuk said. “But [Montour] pulled us through. We live to fight another day.”

The 2022-23 Bruins were the most successful regular-season team in NHL history, setting league records for wins (65) and points (135) in a season.

But with that success came the unique pressure of going wire-to-wire as the NHL’s best. As winger Brad Marchand told ESPN in March: “It’s not about the regular season. If you win the Presidents’ Trophy but you don’t win the Cup, nobody cares. That’s what we know on this team.”

To that end, Boston also had to battle the NHL’s “Presidents’ Trophy Curse,” as the best regular-season team historically underwhelms in the postseason. Since the 1985-86 season when the trophy was first awarded, 11 regular-season champs made the Stanley Cup Final with eight of them winning. No Presidents’ Trophy winner has advanced to the Stanley Cup Final since the NHL went to the wild-card format in 2013-14.

In the past, Presidents’ Trophy winners that didn’t find playoff success would point to a lack of adversity in the regular season as one reason. Montgomery downplayed that as a factor but indicated that there was some residual malaise from the easy ride the Bruins had before the playoffs.

“I do think our first two games we played, we weren’t ready for the intensity of Stanley Cup playoffs, and I think that goes with the regular season,” he said. “But by Games 5, 6 and 7, we had dug in. That’s where it’s a little stupefying.”

The Bruins join the 2018-19 Tampa Bay Lightning, whose regular-season wins mark Boston surpassed this season, as recent regular-season standings leaders who were eliminated in the playoffs’ opening round.

Coincidentally, both Panthers general manager Bill Zito and goalie Sergei Bobrovsky were with the Columbus Blue Jackets when they swept that Lightning team in the first round.

The Bruins made their boldest coaching decision of the series before Game 7, benching goalie Linus Ullmark in favor of the 24-year-old Swayman.

While Boston used both goalies in a regular-season tandem — Ullmark (40-6-1) played 49 games and Swayman (24-6-4) played 37 games — Ullmark started the first six games of the series against the Panthers. Although he made a brief appearance in Game 4, Swayman hadn’t started a game since the Bruins’ season finale at Montreal on April 13.

Swayman was loudly cheered by fans at TD Garden during pregame lineup announcements, as the crowd buzzed before Game 7. But the fans soon grew frustrated during the first period, as the Bruins hesitated to take shots on goal and took three minor penalties.

The Panthers struck first on a gorgeous give-and-go play in the waning moments of a first-period power play. Bobrovsky started the play, setting up the puck for Montour. He raced through the neutral zone and passed to center Anton Lundell, who quickly fed the puck back to Montour as he skated in between all four Bruins penalty killers. His quick backhand flip beat Swayman at 12:23 for the 1-0 lead.

Florida made it 2-0 just 1:14 into the second period as Sam Reinhart fired a puck past Swayman from the slot for his fourth of the playoffs.

Boston got on the board at 7:52 courtesy of its most reliable playoff performer, center David Krejci. With defenseman Marc Staal in the penalty box for tripping, Krejci’s shot from the left side beat Bobrovsky.

It was his 43rd career playoff goal in 160 career playoff games.

The Bruins tied the score on the power play to begin the third period after David Pastrnak drew a roughing penalty on Montour. Forward Tyler Bertuzzi tipped home a shot from defenseman Dmitry Orlov just 55 seconds into the period.

Then it was Pastrnak playing the hero at 4:11 of the third. Defenseman Brandon Carlo‘s shot thumped off Bobrovsky’s pads directly to Pastrnak, who scored 61 goals in the regular season. He scored his fifth of the series to give Boston its first lead of Game 7, leaping into the glass in celebration in front of a now-frenzied TD Garden crowd.

But that crowd was left stunned when the Panthers tied Game 7 at 3-3 with one minute left in regulation and Bobrovsky pulled. Aleksander Barkov‘s shot from the top of the zone was blocked by Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron straight to Montour, whose quick shot beat Swayman for his second goal of the night. His teammates mobbed him against the boards, while Panthers players embraced on the bench.

Swayman stopped Panthers star Tkachuk on a breakaway early in overtime and had another strong stop on a Verhaeghe chance. But the Panthers found a way to score the winner.

“They had a crazy regular season,” Verhaeghe said. “But the playoffs are completely different. I mean, we had a crazy regular season last year, and it really didn’t amount to anything.”

The Panthers won the Presidents’ Trophy last season with 122 points in the standings and lost in the second round to Tampa Bay.

The elimination not only ends the Bruins’ season but could be the end of an era. Krejci and Bergeron are both unrestricted free agents. Bergeron is in his 19th NHL season, while Krejci has played 16 seasons. Boston players spoke openly about trying to send off the two veterans with a Stanley Cup win.

After the handshake line between the teams, the stunned Bruins stood on the ice near their bench. Finally, Bergeron skated to center ice to salute the fans before the players retreated to their locker room.

Bergeron, 37, said after the game that he will take time to determine his next steps. He also revealed he missed the first four games of the series with a herniated disk in his back. The Panthers won all three games Bergeron played in the series.

He remained on the ice to embrace his teammates as they left, including his longtime linemate, Marchand.

“He’s just like the perfect person on or off the ice. Such an incredible leader, so driven, incredible family man, great father and great friend,” Marchand said. “I’ll forever be grateful for him.”

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