While there was little doubt that the emotion level was elevated for Monday night’s first rematch against the Florida Panthers since last spring’s first-round playoff elimination, it wasn’t ever about revenge for the Black and Gold.
Choking in the first round after a record-breaking regular season isn’t ever going to go away no matter how many times the Bruins beat the wheels off Florida this season. Instead, it was more about building respect for this season’s edition of the Black and Gold with an impressive, character-building 3-2 overtime victory over the Panthers on Monday night that marked their highest quality win of the season.
Revenge? The idea of getting any measure of payback with the Panthers wasn’t a notion the B’s were buying on any level.
“No, it doesn’t. It’s not that I don’t hold grudges, but it just doesn’t change anything,” said Brad Marchand, when asked if the win felt like payback. “It’s always nice to win a game. But it’s just two points and it’s not going to change the outcome of last year. At the end of the day, Florida ended up in the exact same point that we just. It was just a month later. Only one team wins, and it doesn’t matter if you go out in the fourth round or in the first round. Unless you win the Cup, you don’t achieve your goal and this season has no bearing on that. We’re trying to build something new with a much different group.
“But you can build some confidence. These are the games, especially going down the stretch and in the playoffs, that you’re going to have to win. Right now it’s just another two points, but you can definitely understand when we come in and make adjustments at the end of a period, that they can definitely make a difference. We saw that [in the win].”
It was impressive the way the game evolved after it looked like it was going to be a full on lather, rinse, repeat of the postseason while the Panthers dominated the first period to the tune of a 2-0 lead. The Bruins were turning pucks over in the middle of the ice and playing right into Florida’s hands while the Panthers forecheck looked quick, overwhelming and impossible to beat in outshooting the B’s by a wide 18-6 margin.
This time, though, the Bruins had a simple plan to counteract Florida’s attack. They pared down their breakouts and offensive game plan by simply playing dump-and-chase where they could start pounding Florida’s defense. It didn’t turn things into a one-sided affair for the Boston Bruins, but it instead put the Atlantic Division rivals on equal footing where the B’s were able to tie things up over the final 40 minutes.
“We just simplified our game playing north. We had too many careless plays through the middle, either in the offensive zone or approaching the offensive blue line that led to them just coming at us wave after wave. They looked super-fast and we looked slow,” said Jim Montgomery. “We just wanted to simplify the game, get to our forecheck and start wearing them down in their end.”
One score was a Brad Marchand point blank score off a nice passing play from Jake DeBrusk, and the other was a perfect transition play through the neutral zone where Pavel Zacha hit David Pastrnak in stride with a perfect cross-ice dish. Then, Charlie McAvoy followed the play deep into the offensive zone and finished off a slick Pastrnak dish that tied up the game and sent things into overtime.
It was one of the few times the Bruins attempted anything fancy with a zone entry over the final two periods of play, where it was otherwise a constant diet of throwing pucks cross-corner and then sending in forwards to chase.
Charlie McAvoy jumps into the play and ties things up.
— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) October 31, 2023
Pastrnak & Zacha with the assists.
2-2 game. pic.twitter.com/JowvASPFOP
Zacha won it in the extra session with a goal off the rush where him choosing shot over pass was an encouraging sign from a player that should do that more often.
At the other end, Linus Ullmark was outstanding with 36 saves even as he was under siege in the first 20 minutes of the game, and authored his own response vs. Florida after really struggling badly in the playoffs last spring. Yet again, though, Ullmark didn’t feel like any of it meant more to him from an individual standpoint after a playoff performance that was last season’s only blemish amidst a Vezina Trophy-winning campaign.
“I don’t carry grudges. What happened last year, happened last year,” said Ullmark. “There’s no reason to dwell on the past for me. It doesn’t matter now. The only thing that matters for me is [stopping] the next puck. If I start thinking about what happened last year, it’s not going to help me now.”
The game wasn’t without its negatives, of course, as Matt Grzelcyk is out for weeks with an upper-body injury, and McAvoy is likely facing a suspension after getting booted with a match penalty from Monday’s win following a head shot on Oliver Ekman-Larsson.
Charlie McAvoy is given a match penalty for this hit on Oliver Ekman-Larsson. pic.twitter.com/pZx16EXupZ
— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) October 31, 2023
But those are long term challenges for the Black and Gold. Last night, killing off a five-minute major penalty in the third period became part of the mountain Boston had to climb against the Panthers to claim victory.
They say that the best revenge for anybody is a life well-lived and that’s exactly what the Bruins are doing right now while leading the Atlantic Division with an 8-0-1 record that’s already putting them in ideal playoff position. The focus is on racking up quality wins, like the Monday night divisional “W” against Florida, with a transitioning Bruins team that’s simply exploring how good they can really be with a new group of players and long range sights climbing higher and higher with each successful effort this season.