The Boston Bruins were the Stanley Cup favorites entering the 2023 postseason after setting NHL records that regular season for points and wins, but they were then stunned in the first round by the wild-card Florida Panthers. The teams stage a playoff rematch in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series on Monday night from South Florida.
When: Monday, May 6th, 2024, 8:00 PM ET
Where: Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise, FL
TV: ESPN
Radio: 98.5 The Sports Hub FM (Bruins) // 560 The Joe WQAM (Panthers)
Live Stream: NHL Network
NHL Betting Odds: Bruins (+1.5) // Panthers (-1.5)
Why Bet on the Boston Bruins?
Boston was 4-0 vs. Florida this regular season, with three of the games decided by a goal. They last played April 6 in Beantown and the Bruins prevailed 3-2 in overtime. Jesper Boqvist scored 2:05 into overtime and Linus Ullmark stopped 28 shots. Sergei Bobrovsky made 26 saves in a losing effort. He’ll definitely start in net Monday for Florida, but Ullmark might not start for Boston as Jeremy Swayman was the main guy in Round 1 vs. Toronto – although the B’s did essentially rotate the two in the regular season.
The Bruins got here with a 2-1 OT home win over Toronto on Saturday, as star David Pastrnak scored on a feed from Hampus Lindholm 1:54 into overtime. The only teams in NHL history to score faster in overtime of a Game 7 were Calgary in the 2004 Conference Quarterfinals (1:25) and Boston in the 1983 Division Finals (1:52).
“I played with [Pastrnak] for long enough to know that I can see when he swings like that, and I know they’re doing like three across there so it’s trying to get behind them and get a good balance there,” Lindholm explained. “And obviously Pasta got his magic. It was [on] purpose that I was hoping that the kick out was good for him there – and then the way he handles that puck and puts it over the pads, there are a few guys that can do that.”
It was Pastrnak’s second career series-clinching goal (also Game 4 of the 2019 conference finals) and he became the 12th player in franchise history with multiple clinching goals. The only players with three or more are Patrice Bergeron (4), Cam Neely (3) and Jean Ratelle (3). Fellow forward Brad Marchand appeared in his 12th career Game 7, tied for the most among active players and trail only four players on the NHL’s all-time list: former teammates Patrice Bergeron (14 GP) and Zdeno Chara (14 GP) share the all-time record, while defenseman Scott Stevens (13 GP) and goaltender Patrick Roy (13 GP) are the only other players to contest more than a dozen.
Jeremy Swayman finished with 30 saves and Lindholm had the tying goal in regulation to help the Bruins avoid losing their second straight first-round series after holding a 3-1 lead. They have now defeated the rival Maple Leafs in Game 7 of the first round of the playoffs three times in the last seven years. The Bruins recorded their fifth Game 7 comeback win in team history, moving them into a tie with the Maple Leafs for the most by a franchise in NHL history.
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