5 Boston Bruins who must play better to beat the Florida Panthers
If the Boston Bruins are going to beat the Florida Panthers in the second round, they will need a lot more from these five players.
After taking down the Toronto Maple Leafs in seven games, the Boston Bruins have a quick turnaround with their second-round series beginning Monday night in South Florida against the Florida Panthers.
If there is one team that the Bruins know what to expect from, it's the Panthers. Last season, Florida rallied from a 3-1 series deficit to stun the Black and Gold in seven games. Now one year later, Boston is going to get another shot at them and if they are to have a different result this season, they will need more from these five players than what they got in the first round against the Maple Leafs.
Hampus Lindholm
One big reason as to why the Bruins are in the second round is because of Hampus Lindholm and the Game 7 he had Saturday night. There were multiple games in this series where you needed to look hard, well, very hard to notice if he was even playing. There were games where a Lindholm/Brandon Carlo pairing struggled mightily at times.
The one that tied it up 🔨 pic.twitter.com/JVhJKCxGzs
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) May 5, 2024
However, in Game 7, Lindholm gave the Bruins the answer they needed in the third period with a game-tying goal right after William Nylander gave Toronto a 1-0 lead to force overtime. In the extra session, he placed a perfect dump into the corner for the Maple Leafs' end where David Pastrnak was the benefit of a bounce off the boards and beat Ilya Samsonov on the backhand for the series-winning goal. Boston is going to need a lot more from Lindholm like they got in Game 7 against Florida.
Charlie McAvoy
If there was one defenseman who struggled late in the series, it was Charlie McAvoy. He had some bad turnovers in the defensive end and there were times when Mason Lohrei was the better of the pairing late in the series.
In Game 2, he made a curious decision in the third period that led to an Auston Matthews game-winning goal on a breakaway in a 3-2 win. Then in Game 6, William Nylander took advantage of McAvoy puck chasing late in the third period to score what turned out to be the game-winning goal, on a breakaway, in a 2-1 win. If there is one thing that head coach Jim Montgomery needs to consider, it's taking McAvoy off of the power play and go with someone else. He has had a pass-too-much tendacy lately and that can't happen.
Linus Ullmark
It's almost guaranteed that Linus Ullmark is going to see some time in this series and in fact, I would even start the 2023-24 Vezina Trophy winner. He had a lot of success early in the series last spring against Florida before suffering an injury which hampered his mobility late in the series. This season had won three games against the Panthers while sporting a .947 SV%.
Ullmark has had a lot of success against the Panthers and it really should be a no-brainer to go to him in Game 1 and maybe even Game 2 to give Jeremy Swayman a breather and then if needed, he'll be well-rested by the time the series gets to Game 3 Friday night at the TD Garden. Don't be surprised to see the return of a goaltending rotation this series after Swayman frustrated the Maple Leafs in the first round.
Charlie Coyle & Pavel Zacha
One area where the Bruins struggled and struggled very badly in Games 5 and 6, was on face-offs. Yes, you can make the case that scratching John Beecher in Game 5 had something to do with it, but it can't be ignored that if there is one flaw with this Bruins team, it's up the middle. That is a position that GM Don Sweeney did not address in free agency or at the trade deadline after losing both Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci to retirement.
Charlie Coyle played well in the Florida series last spring when Bergeron and Krejci missed time with injuries and both Coyle and Pavel Zacha shined at different times this season at the dot, but they can only struggle so long and Boston can survive it. They are the top two pivots and they need to raise their face-off percentage this series if the Black and Gold are going to have any hope of advancing.
Getting a split in Florida in the first two games is a must before the series shifts back to Boston. They have a short turnaround and will play a Panthers' team that will be physical from the drop of the puck Monday night. In order to play the winner of the Carolina Hurricanes and New York Rangers series in the Eastern Conference Final, the Bruins will need these players to step up.
feed