The Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa joins Mike Felger on Sports Sunday to explain why Jim Montgomery’s decision to not use Jeremy Swayman earlier may have cost the Bruins the series vs. Florida
The Florida Panthers were enormous underdogs entering their first-round playoff series against the Boston Bruins, and almost no one picked them to advance to the second round.
And with good reason, too. The Bruins had a historic regular season -- perhaps the best in NHL history -- in which they set records for the most wins (65) and the most points (135).
The B's looked almost unbeatable. That is, of course, until they met the Panthers.
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Led by superstar left wing Matthew Tkachuk, the Panthers stunned the hockey world and eliminated the Bruins at TD Garden with a 4-3 overtime win in Game 7 on Sunday night.
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It was a hard-fought series between two Atlantic Division teams that know each other well. Tkachuk even admitted that this Bruins team was the best he's ever played against in his seven-year NHL career.
"The talent they have over there in Boston, the guys who have done it for years, their core is unbelievable," Tkachuk said after Game 7. "The fact that we were able to do what we did after what they've done all year, and obviously just so much respect for those guys who've done it forever, and the young players coming in. They're an unreal team. The best I've played in my NHL career. So the fact that we were able to beat them in the playoffs is crazy."
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The Panthers were one minute away from leaving Boston with a Game 7 loss, but defenseman Brandon Montour tied the score 3-3 on a goal with 59 seconds remaining in the third period. After the first minute or two of overtime, the Panthers dominated the action and created a ton of quality scoring chances.
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Carter Verhaeghe finished off the Bruins with a goal 8:35 into the extra period.
"The belief was there, and once we got to overtime I think we took over overtime like we did in Game 5," Tkachuk said. "Both overtime games we played, I think we've been the way better team. Let's be honest, nobody in the whole world thought we were gonna win this series except for the guys in that room. It's a pretty cool feeling right now."
Tkachuk led all players in the series with 11 points (five goals, six assists) in seven games. He tallied six points (three goals, three assists) in the last three games -- all Panthers wins -- including an assist on Verhaeghe's series-winning goal.
The Bruins had no answers for Tkachuk, and it's one of the main reasons why their season is done.
