With just under five minutes gone in the first period Charlie McAvoy sent the puck around the boards to Jake DeBrusk who found Morgan Geekie alone in front of the net. Geekie scored his fourth goal of the playoffs to put the Bruins on top. Less than a minute later, David Pastrnak came in alone but Sergei Bobrovsky stoned him cold. Charlie Coyle then got sent to the box for hooking to put the Panthers on the power play. The Panthers couldn't muster anything on the man advantage as the Bruins sat on the puck for the next ten minutes. Geekie then cross-checked Anton Lundell who got up and managed to get two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct to put both teams on a 4 on 4. Nothing happened the rest of the period as the Bruins took a 1-0 lead to go along with their 11-4 shot advantage into the second period.
The Panthers couldn't get untracked to start the second period as Carter Verhaeghe got nailed for closing his hand on the puck 2:38 in to put the Panthers on the PK. Unfortunately, the Bruins did nothing on the powerplay as the Panthers had a 2 on 1 breakaway at one point. Charlie Coyle dished a pass to Danton Heinen who got stopped by Bobrovsky with 14:09 to play in the period. With 6:10 gone in the period, Aleksander Barkov took a slapshot but it was saved by Swayman. Then the Panthers closed in on the Bruins with Aaron Ekblad dumping it off Swayman but the Bruins failed to control the rebound. Sam Reinhart fired the puck past Swayman to tie it up 6:23 into the period. A minute later Verhaeghe got a two on one with Dmitry Kulikov but Swayman stopped Kulikov point blank. A few seconds later Charlie Coyle scooped up a loose puck and dished it to a wide open Trent Frederic, but Bobrovsky denied him for the save. Halfway through the period, Frederic passed it to Coyle who dumped it behind him to Charlie McAvoy. McAvoy fired it off the crossbar and in for his first goal of the playoffs to put Boston in the lead. Panthers coach Paul Maurice challenged that Bobrovsky was interfered with, only for the officials to uphold the call. This put the Bruins on the power play but they failed to cash in. Not only that, Swayman had to stop Eetu Luostarinen on a shorthand attempt. Reinhart then had a wide open breakaway but shot it over the crossbar. Ekblad then tried a wraparound but Swayman stopped it to end the madness. With 7:36 to go in the period, Mason Lohrei got called for hooking to put the Panthers on the power play. This time it was the Panthers that couldn't do anything right as Jake DeBrusk got a wide open breakaway. DeBrusk got denied by Bobrovsky and then Frederic failed to put the rebound in. With five minutes left in the period, Reinhart had a point break shot but Swayman stopped him. Then Barkov beat Swayman clean but it went off the post. The Bruins held on to end the period up 2-1.
It looked like Florida was running out of gas in the third period as DeBrusk found Pastrnak down load but Bobrovsky BARELY made the save. The Panthers caught a break as McAvoy was whistled for roughing just 1:23 into the third period, but it was the Bruins who had the first chance. Vehaeghe was stripped by Pavel Zacha but Bobrovsky stopped the breakaway chance. Later on Parker Wotherspoon gave the puck right to Verhaeghe but Swayman made the key save. The Bruins recovered to kill off the penalty and it was the Bruins who'd have the next power play when Ekblad was called for slashing 7:11 into the period. Justin Brazeau found Pastrnak who saw Geekie wide open, but Morgan missed the net on the shot attempt. With 8:32 remaining in the game, the Bruins took yet ANOTHER too many men on the ice penalty. The Bruins defense stepped up to snuff out the Panthers to keep the lead intact. With 2 minutes left in the game, the Panthers pulled Bobrovsky. Vladimir Tarasenko was robbed in front and Brandon Montour was also stoned by Swayman. With 75 seconds left, Barkov was denied by Swayman and the Bruins kept poking the puck out of the zone. With 9 seconds left, Montour passed through the legs of Wotherspoon to a wide open Reinhart but Swayman made the HUGE save to end the game. The Bruins live another day as they beat the Panthers 2-1 in Game 5.
Game 5 belongs to The Sway
Reaction:
That took a lot of heart and guts for the Bruins to win this one without Marchand. After getting their teeth kicked in from Game's 2 through 4, they could have easily rolled over and died. Instead they fought hard and forced a Game 6 back in Boston. Its amazing after how last year's team had the all time choke in the first round and this year's team with half the offensive talent is now two wins short of the Conference Finals. McAvoy finally showed up on the offensive stat sheet and thank goodness for Swayman at the end. It would be unbelievable karma if the Bruins were to do what the Panthers did last year and come back down 3-1. The Panthers won Game 5 in Boston last year the same way the Bruins just won Game 5 in Florida. Not saying Game 6 is a guarantee, because it isn't, but that's the next step if they want to extend the season. No matter what happens in Game 6, this year's team deserves a lot of credit for making it this far after shedding so much talent after last year. Hopefully the Bruins can come out firing in front of their home crowd because the season is over if they don't. Also hopefully, Brad Marchand can play as well if he's healthy enough to contribute. Game 6 is this Friday night at 7:00 PM at TD Garden.
