The Bruins are the clear favorites to beat the Florida Panthers in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. They earned that distinction by virtue of their record-breaking 65-win season.
But if the Panthers claim not to be intimidated by the Bruins in the opening series that starts Monday at TD Garden, it’s not false bravado. The two teams essentially split the four-game season series (the Bruins can say they took the series by going 2-1-1), with both teams winning their home games.
In fact, it was an overtime win over the Bruins on Jan. 28 that may have saved Florida’s season. The Panthers were massive underachievers to that point. The defending Presidents’ Trophy winners were an unimpressive 23-22-6 and seemed ready to slip into oblivion. And it looked like David Pastrnak had pounded at least one nail into the Panthers’ coffin when he scored a go-ahead goal with 49 seconds left in regulation.
But with the goalie pulled and just three seconds left, Sasha Barkov tied the game, then Sam Reinhart won it 17 seconds into overtime. That gave the Panthers life, and they made one final push with a six-game winning streak down the stretch to eventually qualify for the playoffs.
Here’s a little more fodder for the dread-inclined. In the Bruins’ previous game in Sunrise, Florida, back on Nov. 23, they lost 5-2 in one of their worst defeats of the season.
Matthew Tkachuk has been everything the Panthers had hoped he would be, though they paid dearly for him, sending Jonathan Huberdeau and defenseman Mackenzie Weegar to Calgary for him last summer. In some other era without Connor McDavid, Tkachuk might be bound for the Hart Trophy after producing 40 goals and 69 assists. Barkov will be a Selke candidate for years to come, Carter Verhaeghe (42-31-73) might be the most underrated player in the NHL, and defenseman Brandon Montour (16-57-73) is enjoying a breakout season.
The Panthers have their flaws, to be sure. Their most glaring one is their 3.32 goals-against average, 21st in the NHL. Still, one could certainly see how, after making the difficult adjustment following the big offseason trade, the Panthers can convince themselves that they’re capable of knocking off the Bruins.
Florida defenseman Radko Gudas, speaking with reporters in Sunrise after the team’s loss to Carolina in their regular-season finale on Thursday, seemed eager to tackle the tall task.
“I think we are a confident group who believes we can play with anyone. The way we played Boston all season, it gave us confidence,” said Gudas. “They are the team they are for a reason, but we are in the playoffs for a reason as well. I am excited for the challenge. If you want to win it all, you have to get through the biggest hurdle, and that’s right from the start for us.”
Starting Monday, the bulls-eye the Bruins have been wearing on their back only gets bigger.
PENGUINS: Pittsburgh asked Ron Hextall and Brian Burke to thread an impossibly thin needle when they were hired in February 2021.
Hextall, the general manager, and Burke, the director of hockey operations, were asked to find a way to prop open the championship window for stars Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang without sacrificing the club’s long-term future.
A little over two sometimes turbulent years that produced a significant lack of progress on either front, Hextall and Burke are out of a job.
The team fired Hextall, Burke and assistant general manager Chris Pryor on Friday after the Penguins failed to reach the playoffs for the first time in 17 years.
The decision to part with the trio came less than 24 hours after the end of a wildly uneven season in which Pittsburgh went 40-31-11 and finished ninth in the Eastern Conference to end the longest active postseason streak in major North American professional sports.
Fenway Sports Group owner John Henry and company chairman Tom Werner said in a joint statement that “the team will benefit from new hockey operations leadership.”
CAPITALS: Coach Peter Laviolette will not have his contract renewed after Washington missed the playoffs for the first time in nearly a decade.
Laviolette, 58, coached the Capitals for the three seasons, making the playoffs in each of the first two to extend the organization’s postseason streak to eight years. They lost in the first round each time and have not won a series since hoisting the Stanley Cup in 2018 under Barry Trotz.
DUCKS: Dallas Eakins will not return as head coach after four consecutive losing seasons, the team announced.
One day after Anaheim finished in last place in the overall NHL standings at 23-47-12, General Manager Pat Verbeek said the Ducks won’t renew Eakins’ contract, which expired at the end of this season.
The Ducks never finished higher than sixth in the Pacific Division during Eakins’ four years in charge. They’ve missed the playoffs a franchise-record five straight seasons.
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