BOSTON (AP) — Brad Marchand has experienced his share of highlight plans in his profession. His most recent was additional of a lowlight for Florida goalie Alex Lyon.
Marchand scored his 50th job playoff aim on a somewhat uncomplicated shot, David Pastrnak and Jake DeBrusk also scored, and the NHL-ideal Boston Bruins opened the playoffs by beating the Panthers 3-1 on Monday night time.
“You under no circumstances know, arrive playoff time, you never want to move up a shot,” Marchand stated. “That’s just kind of how the playoffs get the job done. From time to time individuals photographs go in and at times they never.”
Linus Ullmark, a Vezina Trophy candidate who led the league in wins (40), objectives-from typical (1.89) and conserve proportion (.938), stopped 31 shots and Tyler Bertuzzi included two helps for Boston, which managed the sport even with captain Patrice Bergeron sitting out for the reason that of health issues.
Matthew Tkachuk scored for the Panthers and Lyon manufactured 26 will save — lots of of them splendid — but gave up Marchand’s goal on the tender shot.
Match 2 is Wednesday evening in Boston.
The Bruins captured the Presidents’ Trophy, setting NHL documents in factors (135) and wins (65). Florida, final season’s No. 1 seed, gained the Eastern Conference’s eighth and ultimate playoff spot with a late-year push.
It’s the 1st playoff matchup in between a No. 1 seed and the Presidents’ winner from the former time due to the fact the award was introduced in 1985-86.
With the Bruins leading 1-, Lyon gave up Marchand’s early in the 2nd when the winger fired a seemingly harmless shot from the major of the left circle. Lyon bent down to capture it and it tipped off his glove, caroming into the internet following hitting the within of the right write-up.
Shortly right after, the TD Garden group started serenading him with chants of “Lyon! Lyon!”
“He was fantastic. He’ll want the second just one back,” Florida mentor Paul Maurice stated of Lyon. “I’m not measuring that as the explain to of his recreation, we’ll evaluate it by the saves that he made.”
Pastrnak, a 61-intention scorer this period, was on the opposite facet on the right wing from his normal location on the energy play. Bertuzzi gathered the rebound of David Krejci’s shot in the slot and despatched a speedy backhand pass to Pastrnak, who snapped the puck into the web at 5:58 of the opening time period, pushing Boston forward 1-.
Florida slash the lead in half when Boston defenseman Dmitry Orlov sent a blind, backhand move immediately out front, wherever Tkachuk collected it and flipped the puck earlier Ullmark at 6:34 of the 2nd.
“I consider the two teams received improved and have far more to give, especially us,” Panthers centre Eetu Luostarinen explained.
DeBrusk restored the two-objective lead when he dove into a pile and knocked the puck into the internet out of a scramble in close proximity to the crease late in the 2nd.
“I just observed the puck on his pad,” DeBrusk claimed. “I just experimented with to dive to get it. But I imagined that if I clearly strike his pad, it was goaltender interference. I just attempted to go in excess of the prime of it. … As soon I noticed the replay, I understood I did what I desired to do.”
As it did to so a lot of opponents throughout its document-placing year, Boston bottled up Florida in the 3rd.
“Our 3rd interval was our best interval of the activity,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery explained. “I imagined our to start with five, 6 minutes had been superior. Soon after we scored that energy-perform target, perhaps we experienced two, three shifts following that, then we kind of experienced a lull in our activity.”
Emphasize STOPS
The 30-year-outdated Lyon, undrafted and fundamentally a vocation minimal leaguer, designed a pair of splendid stops soon after Boston took its 1- lead, coming across to make a remaining pad preserve on Bertuzzi’s redirect from the edge of the crease and sliding throughout to end Trent Frederic’s possibility. He robbed Frederic once more late in the 2nd.
AILING CAPTAIN
Bergeron remaining the standard-period finale in Montreal in the initially period with an higher-physique damage, then missed practice Saturday and Sunday.
“We have not only Bergeron, but a couple of guys that have been under the weather,” Montgomery said after the early morning skate.
NOTES: Krejci missed the very last 6 game titles of the frequent period with a reduced-system injury. … Bruins D Derek Forbort returned to the lineup. He hadn’t performed because mid-March since of a reduced-overall body personal injury. D Matt Grzelcyk was a balanced scratch … Panthers C Aleksander Barkov was in the lineup immediately after missing Sunday’s follow. … Florida G Sergei Bobrovsky, a two-time Vezina winner, was the backup. He hasn’t played considering that March 27 due to the fact of a non-COVID ailment. … Florida led the league in shots on aim per recreation with 36.82.
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