It was quite an NHL night of jymy surprises Finnish time between May Day and May Day.
First, the Florida Panthers ended the Boston Bruins’ season when Carter Verhaeghe scored the deciding goal in the first overtime, in 68:35.
Boston set a record for points and wins in the NHL regular season. It was clear that the Bruins were elevated as one of the biggest Stanley Cup favorites in pre-playoff drafts.
Florida, on the other hand, played a really bad regular season compared to expectations and had to fight for its playoff spot to the last meters.
The point difference between the teams in the regular season was 43 points. By that measure, it is the biggest surprise in NHL playoff history.
When Boston then claimed two consecutive, dull victories from Florida and took a 3-1 lead in the first round of the playoffs, no one outside the Florida locker room seemed to believe in the Panthers’ place anymore.
Florida took the lead in the opening set in 12:23. Brandon Montour finished with superiority by Anton Lundell input.
At the beginning of the second period, Lundell and Eetu Luostarinen did the preliminary work by Sam Reinhart to a 2–0 hit. David Krejci narrowed with superiority in time 27:52. With a score of 2–1, we went to a third set.
The Boston goaltender, who started all six of Florida’s previous games, was among the best in the regular season Linus Ullmark had been left on the bench for a stalemate. Jeremy Swayman got his first game in these playoffs in a tough spot.
Tyler Bertuzzi and David Pastrnak scored Boston’s third in the first five minutes of the period. It looked like the seasoned Boston would get the job done, and Florida would have no more bangers to contend with.
Until 59 seconds before the final buzzer of the third period, Montour scored his second of the night, Alexander Barkov got an assist. That’s how Florida made it to the playoffs.
In the overtime with Florida’s No. 1 playoff seed With Matthew Tkachuk there was even a drive through before Verhaeghe’s decisive goal.
– Game seven. Overtime win. Against the best team in regular season history. This is unrealistic, said Florida captain Barkov According to Sportsnet (you will switch to another service).
– It’s hard to understand now, and we don’t need to understand right now. We will understand later, Barkov continued.
Boston didn’t lose three games in a row all season, until now against the Panthers, who have been scolded for their poor performance throughout the season.
– We now did what they did all year. Boston is an incredible team and the best I’ve played against in my NHL career. The fact that we were able to beat them was crazy, Matthew Tkachuk enthused and continued:
– Let’s be honest. No one in the entire world believed we were going to win this series except the guys in our locker room.
Last year, Florida roared to victory in the regular season, then in the playoffs first narrowly knocked off Washington, before falling completely under the thunder of Tampa. An experienced coach was hired Paul Mauricewho had piloted Winnipeg since the 2013-14 season.
Maurice has now won all four playoff tiebreakers in which he has been behind the bench.
– The players now have a common experience of what a really difficult match means. It makes us better for five years. That’s how difficult it was, Maurice stated after the victory.
Boston Captain Patrice Bergeron was overcome with emotion after the game. The 37-year-old center has represented Boston his entire career, since 2003, won the Stanley Cup in 2011 and received the Selke Trophy for the NHL’s best defensive forward five times.
In the Canadian national team, Bergeron has won World Cup gold, Olympic gold and the World Cup.
This season, Bergeron played with a back injury. He said at the time of the defeat that he needed time to think about the continuation of his career.
– At the moment it is difficult to process anything. Obviously, we are shocked and disappointed. It hurts right now, so I have to take a step back and think about the future with my family.
The master is out
If Boston was considered a championship contender, so was the reigning champion Colorado Avalanche, even though it had its own struggles.
However, Colorado, which suffered from injuries throughout the season, rose past Minnesota and Dallas to win the Central Division at the end of the regular season.
However, the Seattle Kraken, participating in the playoffs for the first time, put Colorado in a tight spot right from the start of the series.
Seattle rose from a 1–2 loss in the series with a 3–2 match win to catch the next place. In the game of six, Colorado was able to win clearly 4–1.
Now the 28-year-old Danish striker became Seattle’s hero in the stoppage time Oliver Björkstrandwho scored twice in the first half of the second period. Eeli Tolvanen had an assist on the second hit.
Mikko Rantanen narrowed down with superiority at the very end of the second period, when by Nathan MacKinnon the shot went through Rantanen into the goal.
In the third set, Seattle’s streak lasted, with 33 saves in the last lock in the match Philipp Grubauerwho represented Colorado earlier in his career.
Also, in the third period, Colorado’s MacKinnon had a hit disallowed after a successful challenge by the Seattle coach. In the situation Artturi Lehkonen had gathered outside.
Rantanen described the past NHL season as the strangest of his career. Especially in the middle stages of the regular season, Rantanen logged a lot of minutes due to injuries. Even in the playoffs, a Russian striker dropped out of the team due to personal reasons Valery Nitshushkin.
– Our tanks were empty. We gave everything we had. Every guy here can look in the mirror and say that. I’m so proud of each of my teammates, Rantanen pronounced (you switch to another service).
In the NHL playoffs, the match pairs of the 2nd round are equally clear. The last continuation will be decided next night, Finland time, in the tie between the New York Rangers and the New Jersey Devils.
1st round of the playoffs, 7th matches (with four wins to continue):
Boston–Florida and. 3–4 (0–1, 1–1, 2–1, 0–1)
F: Anton Lundell 0+2, Eetu Luostarinen 0+1, Aleksander Barkov 0+1
Florida continues with match wins 4–3
Colorado–Seattle 1–2 (0–0, 1–2, 0–0)
C: Mikko Rantanen 1+0
S: Eeli Tolvanen 0+1
Seattle continues with match wins 4–3
Match pairs of the second round
East:
Toronto to Florida
Carolina–NY Rangers/New Jersey
West:
Vegas to Edmonton
Dallas–Seattle