REPORT: I am disappointed at Florida Panthers decision, Key player voices out he will
As if eliminating the Boston Bruins for the second straight season in the postseason weren’t enough, the Florida Panthers made sure to troll another Boston-based sports team on social media.
The Panthers defeated the Bruins 2-1 to close out their series in six games behind a late goal by Gustav Forsling. Florida advances to its second straight Eastern Conference finals after reaching it only once in its first 28 years of existence, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
On Wednesday, the Boston Celtics knocked the Cleveland Cavaliers out of the NBA playoffs after a Game 5 win. They then proceeded to troll Cavaliers guard Max Strus, who had arrived at the game wearing a Panthers jersey.
Strus, who spent three seasons with the Miami Heat, wore the jersey a night after the Bruins won on the road to force a Game 6. He was part of the Heat team that eliminated the Celtics in the 2023 Eastern Conference finals.
But Florida got the last laugh and returned the favor after its win Friday. The Panthers posted an old clip of Celtics star Jayson Tatum calling Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk “a great guy.”
The clip comes from a video posted on Tatum’s YouTube channel in April 2013 that Tatum and Tkachuk both appeared in. Tatum and Tkachuk were classmates at Chaminade Prep in St. Louis.
Tkachuk recorded an assist on Florida’s game-winning goal Friday and had a point in three of six games against Boston.
The Panthers will play the New York Rangers in the next round, while the Celtics will take on the winner of the Indiana Pacers-New York Knicks series.
What we’ve learned from Panthers’ playoff run, what’s next
The Panthers and Bruins were knotted 1-1 in Game 6 on Friday until defenseman Gustav Forsling broke the stalemate for Florida with just over ninety seconds left in regulation. Boston goalie Jeremy Swayman let out the juiciest of rebounds he’d love to have to back and Forsling made no mistake punching the Panthers ticket to an Eastern Conference final against New York.
Now that should be a high scoring affair.
How the Panthers got there — and what to expect from their series with the Rangers — is here.
Savvy Sergei
Most goaltenders will admit it’s better to stay busy. And in this series against Boston, Sergei Bobrovsky decidedly was not. Boston averaged the fewest shots on goal among remaining playoff teams (25 per game), and there were lengthy stretches where Bobrovsky didn’t have much to do.
It would be easy to dismiss his contributions to Florida’s success by just looking at the numbers then (.896 save percentage, 2.51 goals-against average) but that doesn’t tell the whole Bobrovsky tale.
The Panthers got the timely saves from their veteran. He wasn’t leaky at the wrong time, despite being underworked. Plus, if you take out the Panthers’ 5-1 loss in Game 1, Bobrovsky didn’t allow more than two goals in an outing the rest of the way.
Being dialed in at crucial moments is how goaltenders set themselves apart in the playoffs, and that’s what Bobrovsky did for Florida throughout the second-round run.
Leave a Reply