You’d think the Boston Bruins would be a little tired.
Less than 48 hours after ousting the Toronto Maple Leafs in overtime of Game 7 Saturday night on home ice, the Bruins found themselves in Florida to start a brand new series against the Panthers — a team that hasn’t played in a full week after eliminating the Tampa Bay Lightning in five games.
And in the age-old debate about rest versus rust, Boston declared loud and clear with their 5-1 series-opening win: Who needs rest when you’ve got momentum?
After Florida’s Matthew Tkachuk opened the scoring midway through the second period, Boston tallied five unanswered markers — including three on three consecutive shots in the second frame on Monday. And though the Bruins were perhaps a little short on sleep, it was the Panthers who looked like they needed the wake-up call in Game 1.
Here’s a collection of our top takeaways from Boston’s victory to open up their second-round series against Florida.
Carlo’s Dad Strength kicks in
Rest? Yeah, it’s safe to say the Carlo family hasn’t had much of that over the past 48 hours, and for the best reasons. Brandon Carlo’s wife, Mayson, gave birth to the couple’s second child, son Crew, in the early hours of Monday morning and 12 hours later Carlo had hopped on a flight to Florida just in time to join his team pre-game.
And what a game he had. Carlo scored late in the second period, the go-ahead goal to give the Bruins a 3-1 lead. Dad strength at its best.
The goal was Carlo’s second of this post-season after tallying just four all season long. He also had an assist in Game 7 against Toronto, which has him sitting third in points among Bruins d-men so far in these playoffs.
Bruins blue line brings the offence
While Carlo was certainly the best story going on Monday night, he wasn’t the only defenceman on the scoresheet. Boston’s blue line stepped up in a big way in Game 1, with rookie rearguard Mason Lohrei also getting on the board with a blocker-side, top-shelf snipe — his first career playoff goal.
The Bruins have seen some clutch performances from defencemen of late. Saturday night against Toronto, it was Hampus Lindholm with a standout performance, first with his third-period game-tying goal and then his assist that set up David Pastrnak’s overtime winner.
Super Swayman
Maple Leafs fans know a little too well how locked in Jeremy Swayman has been during these playoffs. Through six starts against Toronto in Round 1, the 25-year-old let just nine pucks past him, never allowing more than two in a single game.
The Panthers just experienced that for themselves Monday night. Florida managed just a single goal against Swayman on 39 shots — a far cry from their last post-season meeting, when they put four past him in his one and only start against the Panthers last spring.
Swayman was dialed in right from the start, robbing Charlie Coyle with a sprawling save early in the opening act of Monday’s matchup. And by game’s end, he had a new career-high in saves in a playoff game, with 38.
Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery called Swayman the Bruins’ best player in Round 1 — “it’s not close,” he added — and indicated post-game on Monday that the decision to start him in Game 1 against Florida was an easy one despite the quick turnaround and the strength of backup Linus Ullmark.
“We contemplated going with Ullmark,” he said, “but when a guy is playing that well, don’t outsmart yourself.”