In the ice hockey NHL, Boston beat Florida in the fifth meeting of the playoff series with goals 2–1 and narrowed the match wins to 2–3. Edmonton evened the match wins against Vancouver.
In the ice hockey NHL playoffs, the Boston Bruins knocked down a place in the playoffs with the goals of the Florida Panthers 2–1.
Boston, who struggled for a forced win in Sunrise, Florida, took the lead already in the fifth minute of the match, when Morgan Geekie finished with a knuckle By Jake DeBrusk from the pass served from behind the goal.
of Florida Sam Reinhart equalized in the seventh minute of the second period. Aaron Ekblad shot from the blue line and Alexander Barkov and Reinhart were in front of the goal. In the TV pictures, it appeared that Barkov was able to play the puck behind his back to Reinhart, but for one reason or another, the Florida captain was not awarded an assist point.
If Barkov tried to play the puck to Reinhart and succeeded, the situation was one indication of the ferocious Finnish forward’s exceptional game intelligence.
Charlie McAvoy sealed the Finals for Boston just four minutes later. In addition to his goal, McAvoy recorded an assist from a complete hit in the Geeks’ opening set. Florida head coach Paul Maurice challenged McAvoy’s game-winning goal for goaltender interference, but the goal ruling was not changed after video review.
Although Barkov ended up with no power points, he did a convincing job in the starting circle. The 29-year-old center won more than 70 percent of his starts.
The Bruins star who was sidelined for the previous game Brad Marchand was also absent on Tuesday. Boston GM Don Sweeney said during the game that Marchand had already been on the ice and was traveling with the club, but his condition was still being monitored on a day-to-day basis. Marchand was injured in the triple play of the series when Sam Bennett hit him on the head in a game situation. The Florida striker’s trick was missed by the referees.
Florida leads the match series with victories 3–2. The next place is clinched with four wins. The teams will meet next time on Friday local time.
Wild closing minutes in Edmonton
In the semifinal series of the Western Conference, Edmonton beat Vancouver 3–2 at home and leveled the match series at 2–2. Defender Evan Bouchard scored the game-winning goal just under 40 seconds before the end of the third period. Bouchard recorded an assist Leon Draisaitl 1–0 to the goal.
Edmonton already led 2–0 after two sets, but Vancouver tied the match in the final set. Dakota Joshua completed the 2-2 tie just under two minutes before the end of the period, but this was not enough for Vancouver.
The teams will next meet in Vancouver early Friday morning Finnish time.