BOSTON (AP) — Aleksander Barkov slipped through three Bruins defenders to score the go-ahead goal on Sunday night, and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 16 shots to give the Florida Panthers a 3-2 victory over Boston and a 3-1 lead in their Eastern Conference semifinal series.
One year after Florida knocked out the record-setting Bruins in the first round on its way to the Stanley Cup final, the Panthers won their third straight to send Boston to the brink of elimination.
Sam Bennett and Anton Lundell also scored for the Panthers, who scored three times in a row to rally from a two-goal deficit. Florida can advance to the Eastern Conference final with a victory in Game 5 at home on Tuesday.
Playing without captain and leading scorer in the post-season Brad Marchand, Boston jumped out to a 2-0 lead with goals from David Pastrnak and Brandon Carlo. Jeremy Swayman made 38 saves for the Bruins.
One game after his hit — or, as the Bruins believe, his sucker punch — knocked Marchand out of Game 4, Bennett scored a disputed goal to tie the game 2-2 about four minutes into the third period. After Swayman made a save on Lundell, Bennett gave Boston’s Charlie Coyle a shove, sending him into the goaltender, and then flipped the puck into the net.
The Bruins challenged, claiming goaltender interference, but the replay confirmed the goal.
Boston, which lost three of its last four games in the regular season to fall one point below Florida in the Atlantic Division, now must win three straight — with two on the road — to remain alive in the playoffs.
Elsewhere in the NHL on Sunday:
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CANUCKS 4 OILERS 3
EDMONTON, Alta. (AP) — Brock Boeser had two goals and an assist, Elias Lindholm also scored twice, and Vancouver held on to beat Edmonton 4-3 to take a 2-1 lead in their Western Conference playoff series.
Quinn Hughes and J.T. Miller each had two assists, and rookie goalie Arturs Silovs stopped 42 shots for the Canucks.
Mattias Ekholm, Leon Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard scored for the Oilers. Stuart Skinner stopped 11 of 15 shots before he was replaced by Calvin Pickard to start the third period. Pickard finished with three saves in his NHL playoff debut.
Game 4 in the best-of-seven series is Tuesday in Edmonton.
Edmonton’s league-leading power play was 2-for-4, and Vancouver was 2-for-3.
The Oilers’ potent power play got to work early in the first period after Boeser was sent off for slashing. After Evander Kane’s shot was blocked in front of the Vancouver net, the puck bounced out to Ekholm, who fired it past Silovs to put Edmonton up 5:37 into the game.
Ekholm now has goals in three straight playoff games — and is the first Oilers' defenceman to achieve the feat since Paul Coffey in 1985.
The Associated Press