The Florida Panthers were a team on a mission on Wednesday night, fully embracing the underdog mantra and taking it to the Boston Bruins en route to a convincing 6-3 win in Game 2 of their Stanley Cup Playoff series.
The Panthers played fast and physical, not being afraid to mix it up after the whistle and forcing the Bruins into multiple costly turnovers throughout the contest.
“Players didn't make the best decisions at moments,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery admitted after the home loss, according to ESPN's Greg Wyshynski. “I thought for the majority for the first two periods, we were doing really good things with the puck, but the turnovers we had tonight were catastrophic. Right through the middle of the ice. Not typical of the turnovers [we have].”
Turnovers torched the Bruins on Wednesday; the team averaged just 9.13 turnovers per 60 minutes during their historic regular season, and gave the puck away over 15 times in Game 2, per Wyshynski.
“I think it was just trying to make plays when plays weren't there to be made,” Montgomery continued. “It was just execution in certain areas of our game with the puck that really cost us tonight.”
The series now shifts to Florida for Games 3 and 4, and a loss on Friday night would certainly give the Panthers some hope that they could actually defeat the best regular season team in NHL history when it matters most.
Montgomery said he would consider “changes everywhere” in the lineup in Friday's crucial contest, he confirmed to Wyshynski.
“They played really hard. They played very desperate and they played a really complete game. So we need to be better,” Bruins forward Brad Marchand said after scoring his team's first goal in the contest.
Boston will hope to get captain Patrice Bergeron back for the game, after he missed the first two with an upper-body injury.
He has been skating with the team and hasn't been ruled out for when the teams take to the ice at FLA Live Arena in Sunrise for Game 3 of their Stanley Cup Playoff series.
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