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Boston Herald
Boston Herald
1 May 2023
Steve Conroy


NextImg:Bruins historic season falls far short of the goal

The 2022-23 Bruins made history in the regular season. Now, they are just history.

The 65-win team blew a 3-1 series lead and then a late one-goal lead to the Florida Panthers in Game 7 at the Garden on Sunday night before Carter Verhaege scored at 8:35 of overtime.

The Bruins have known heartbreak before, but this is right up there with their most shocking, painful playoff losses in their 99-year history.

But the Panthers earned every bit of this series, proving more resilient than the team that set the record for most wins in a season.

If this is the last we see of Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci, it’s a very tough way to go out for two guys who should have their numbers in the rafters at some point.

The B’s almost got through to the next round.

With the Florida goalie pulled, Brandon Montour scored his second goal of the game to tie the 59.3 seconds left in regulation when his shot from the left circle deflected off of Charlie McAvoy’s stick and past Jeremy Swayman to even the scorer at 3-3 and send it to OT.

That was a gut punch to the B’s, who ad played a solid third period.

After falling being 2-0 early in the second period, the B’s tried it up with two power-play goals. David Krejci got them on the board in the second period and then, 55 seconds into the third period, Tyler Bertuzzi tied it when he redirected Dmitry Orlov’s shot past Sergei Bobrovsky.

Then the B’s took their first lead of the game 4:11. Krejci sent Brandon Carlo off on a rush and he unleashed a slapper from well above the right circle. Bobrovsky kicked it out right to David Pastrnak, who ripped it past the flailing goalie.

Charlie McAvoy was called for high-sticking with 9:12 to go in regulation, but the B’s came up with a big kill and the B’s looked like they just might grind it out.

Orlov had a chance to give the B’s a two-goal lead with a rush but he hit crossbar with just over four minutes left.

Taylor Hall gave the Panthers their second PP for tripping Anthony Duclair in he neutral zone and it was on that advantage that Florida took the first lead of the game at 12:23 of the first period. It looked like the B’s were going to kill it off until Brandon Montour broke out of his own zone on a purposeful rush. He played give-and-go with Anon Lundell at the B’s blue line and Montour then beat Jeremy Swayman to the shortside on a backhander at 12:23.

That took some steam out of the raucous Garden crowd for a bit – and for good reason. The team that had scored the first goal had won all six of the previous game sin this series.

Eventually the B’s started spending some more time in the Florida zone and had a great chance to tie it when a puck squirted out from a net-front scrum. Brandon Carlo had a fair amount of net at which to shoot, but he popped it up over the crossbar.

Then early in the second period, the B’s habitual inability to get out of their zone stung them again. After a borderline icing call brought the puck back into the B’s zone, Garnet Hathaway tried a soft one-hand chip to get the puck past the left point but it was turned back. Then Aaron Ekblad stepped in front of Trent Frederic to keep the puck in on the other side of the ice. Eventually, Eetu Luostarinen fed Sam Reinhart for a wrister from the right circle that Swayman’s glove could not catch up to, making it a two-goal game at 1:14 of the second.

A pall of uneasiness enveloped the Garden at that point and the B’s looked rattled. They missed simple passes and continually turned the puck over.

That continued after David Pastrnak drew a tripping penalty on Marc Staal. But with 11 seconds left on the advantage, Krejci blasted a one-timer from a Dmitry Orlov pass and beat Sergei Bobrovsky to the shortside to make 2-1 at 7:52.

The B’s earned another power play late in the period when Montour crosschecked Tyler Bertuzzi, but the B’s could do nothing with it.

They got another with 44 seconds left in the period when Montour was called for roughing on Pastrnak. They would even it up on the other side in the third period.