Donnelly: Bruins 'stupefying' Game 7 loss to Panthers is a microcosm of series filled with disappointment

The Bruins had it.

They had a 3-2 lead with a minute to go in Game 7. The second round was in sight.  

Sometimes, when you create your own mistakes, the bounces don't go your way either. Brandon Montour's equalizer, his second of the game, ramped in off Charlie McAvoy's stick as he battled in front. Jeremy Swayman, who said he found out yesterday that he was starting, was in position to make the low save, but the redirection found a perfect opening with 59.3 seconds left on the clock to send it into overtime.

It hardly took any time for the Panthers to put the Bruins on the ropes in overtime on their way to authoring one of, if not the largest upset in NHL history. It took eight minutes for Carter Verhaeghe to pick the top right corner, thanks to the help of an uncovered Matthew Tkachuk in front, to slay Goliath and send the Cats to a date with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

"It's really difficult. Obviously, it’s not the outcome you want, and we’re extremely disappointed. Especially with the team we had. It’s not where we want to be," a somber Patrice Bergeron, who played through a herniated disc, said postgame in front of his stall, which briefly remained as the only one with a jersey left hanging in it. "It hurts. It is what it is. You compete hard. You battle all year for that. It’s hard.”  

Swayman said, “I just wanted to do my job, and I was one save short. It sucks. I think I owed the guys one more save. Take the positives and move forward, but this one stings.”

If, in September, the season predictions for the Bruins were to have been them going down as a tough out in the first round, many would have taken it, considering the injuries, the coaching change and so on. But quickly, expectations piled up en route to a regular season few could have possibly imagined. 

Now, after all of it, the 65 wins, the points record, the Presidents' Trophy and the individual accolades, they were all thrown to the wayside in the blink of an eye. 

“The way it ended didn’t matter, how it ended, it just — the season’s over," Jim Montgomery said. "I guess the words that come to mind right now are, disappointment, confusion, and then I would say the other part is, you start looking at the season. It was an honor to coach that group. I know we didn’t get to where we wanted. I get that."

Brad Marchand said, "This is a tough one. We obviously expected much different results this year and this series, and unfortunately, that didn’t happen. This one is going to hurt for a long time."

This was all after Boston dug itself a 2-0 hole early in the game with mental errors and more cockamamie puck-handling in the defensive zone. 

Chief among the lapses in judgment was Dmitry Orlov, who failed to pick up on Montour streaking right down Main Street on a power play, giving the mobile defenseman ample space to break in on a give-and-go for an easy goal that Jeremy Swayman should have had. 

Turnovers, particularly in the defensive zone, crippled the Black and Gold once again. The Bruins committed 18 giveaways, the most pucks they had handed Florida in any game this series. There were 17 in Game 5 after 15 in Game 2. 

On Sam Reinhart's second-period insurance goal, it was another case of the Panthers' dogged puck pursuit wreaking havoc on Boston, putting the defense under duress and forcing the Bruins to cough the pill up at the most inopportune times. After three failed attempts to either exit the zone or break up the play, the puck was behind Swayman.

“I mean our wall play wasn’t good enough — give them credit, they were also aggressive and caused a lot of extra opportunities in the offensive zone," Montgomery said. "I felt we had the right personnel and I have to take some responsibility for not being able to get us to play north quicker, so if I can answer that right now, I’d say it lies on me.”

Bergeron said, "They played well. They played solid. I think they checked really well. They were in your face a lot. Obviously, we didn’t play our best. With that being said, I’m not going to take any credit away from them."

Even after the lackluster opening portion of the game, David Krejci found a pulse in the second period before Tyler Bertuzzi started CPR early in the third. David Pastrnak completed the rival when he gave Boston its first lead of the night. 

"It’s a third-period goal, leading goal, so definitely thinking that [we were going to win], and we were very close to ending up closing it," Pastrnak said.

Just when they thought they were going to pull through, the Bruins flatlined again.

"[The tying goal] is pretty disheartening with the period that we had, to get a bounce like that. It’s tough," Marchand said. "We were a minute away from closing that out, and it’s a tough way to lose.”

The lead-up to Florida's goal was another summation of the way the Bruins had put themselves in positions to fail throughout the series: a failed clearing attempt before a couple of bounces went the Panthers' way.

“On the tying goal, we didn’t get the puck out, we block a shot and it bounced right to them, gets in the net, and it’s a tie game," Pastrnak said. "Obviously, a lot of emotions running, so that one definitely hurt.”

Still, the Bruins had it in Game 5. But the Florida forecheck hemmed the Bruins in, forcing them to hand over the puck and chase the game for most of the night.

They had it in Game 6, another chance to close out the series. They had two third-period leads. The calling card remained turnovers at the hands of the relentless Cats' pursuit of the puck.

They had a chance in overtime, but there was Florida, keeping the Bruins in their own end for an extended shift. There was Tkachuk, quite literally standing front and center for another takedown of the mighty B's, who simply had no answer for the Panthers' second trio.

“I thought that [Sam] Bennett line was pretty dominant. Tkachuk’s an outstanding hockey player and we didn’t contain him, you know. I thought, they always changed the momentum back to them every time they were on the ice pretty much," Montgomery said. "If I’m looking at the series, that was the biggest difference pretty much. ... You know, there’s a lot of things, but in the end, that line kept making plays — and they’re on the ice again, winning a battle behind the net, they score."

But after the regular season, mowing through the NHL and making light work of some of the best in the world, here the Bruins are, staring disappointment in the face once again. Boston was, admittedly, not ready for the adversity of the playoffs. Even after finding themselves in Games 3 and 4 in Florida, they again failed to bring the required intensity and execution in three straight losses to see their season drift into oblivion, landing on another shelf filled with dominant teams to fall short of the ultimate goal.

“I don’t think so, not with this group," Montgomery said when asked if he thought his team didn't face enough adversity in the regular season. "I mean, there are a lot of guys that have faced adversity. I do think our first two games we played, we weren't ready for the intensity of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and I think that goes with the regular season but, Games 5, 6 and 7, we had dug in and that’s where it’s a little stupefying.”