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After a chippy win in Game 3, Jim Montgomery and the Boston Bruins knew the Panthers would throw everything they had at them. Without Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci still, the same lineup that won Boston Game 3 would need to survive another storm from Florida, despite the Panthers losing Aaron Ekblad. The first 10 minutes looked exactly like that, as the Panthers literally threw every puck they had at Linus Ullmark and smothered Boston offensively. However, in rapid succession, the Bruins first shot, the Bruins first power play, the Bruins strike first. The Bruins didn’t look back from there. Another strong, detail-oriented game, not biting into what the Panthers were scratching (for the most part), and a smart Bruins victory as the series heads back to Boston.
First Period
The B’s had a very quiet start to the game and needed Linus Ullmark to bail them out a number of times. How’s this for laying it all out?
R1, Gm4: Linus Ullmark makes a save on Sam Reinhart in the 1st period #FLAvsBOS #TimeToHunt #NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/sGleSuSIOz
— nopClips (@nopClips) April 23, 2023
Despite the very sluggish start for Boston, it was Brad Marchand who struck first! On the power play, Marchand finds the puck loose underneath Sergei Bobrovsky in a sea of humanity around the net and pokes it to the back of the net, making it 1-0 Bruins!
R1, Gm4: The goal is initially waived off, but after review, Brad Marchand knocks the puck past the goal line before stoppage on the power play #FLAvsBOS #TimeToHunt #NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/PUGavVFNAU
— nopClips (@nopClips) April 23, 2023
Second Period
The Bruins would start the middle frame on the man advantage and Jake DeBrusk was sure to take advantage! Tic-tac-goal, Taylor Hall to Dmitry Orlov to Jake DeBrusk on the net-front drive and deflection, and it’s 2-0 B’s!
R1, Gm4: Dmitry Orlov takes Taylor Hall's nifty pass and quickly dishes to Jake DeBrusk, who taps it in for a power-play goal in the 2nd #FLAvsBOS #TimeToHunt #NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/YxaVu6FZKV
— nopClips (@nopClips) April 23, 2023
Matt Tkachuk would cut into the lead, as a puck got stuck on the side of the net, and Tkachuk was right there to put it between his legs and past Ullmark. 2-1, late in the second.
R1, Gm4: Matthew Tkachuk scores against the Boston Bruins to make it 2-1 #FLAvsBOS #TimeToHunt #NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/crpSMgOFKy
— nopClips (@nopClips) April 23, 2023
Third Period
It was clear that whoever scored first would make the biggest impact on how the final frame would go, and it was Tyler Bertuzzi! Brandon Carlo threw a shot on net that Bertuzzi made a slick deflection on to bounce the puck past Bobrovsky and make it 3-1, Bruins!
R1, Gm4: Tyler Bertuzzi deflects Brandon Carlo's shot by Andrei Vasilevskiy to double the Bruins lead early in the 3rd period #FLAvsBOS #TimeToHunt #NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/mnHRYxtt2u
— nopClips (@nopClips) April 23, 2023
The Panthers would claw back, as Sam Bennett finished one after Florida threw everything at Linus Ullmark, now a 3-2 game. That would end the Bruins’ perfect penalty-killing streak to start the playoffs.
R1, Gm4: Sam Bennett scores a power-play goal against the Boston Bruins to make it 3-2 #FLAvsBOS #TimeToHunt #NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/UEp79m0Huc
— nopClips (@nopClips) April 23, 2023
Even still, these Bruins have no quit! Pavel Zacha took a Grade-A shot wide open in the slot, and Jake DeBrusk was net-front to slam home the rebound; it’s a 4-2 Bruins lead!
R1, Gm4: Jake DeBrusk finds the rebound and taps it into the yawning cage, restoring the Bruins' two-goal lead with his second goal of the game #FLAvsBOS #TimeToHunt #NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/SfjqLp4Rsq
— nopClips (@nopClips) April 23, 2023
Taylor Hall would put this game to bed with a gorgeous breakaway, 5-2 Bruins with just three and a half to go.
R1, Gm4: Taylor Hall slips by a defender, makes a series of moves, then tucks the puck into the net to open up a 5-2 Bruins lead in the 3rd #FLAvsBOS #TimeToHunt #NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/WvUnmt1DTA
— nopClips (@nopClips) April 23, 2023
We won’t forget his empty netter too!
R1, Gm4: Taylor Hall fires a shot into the empty net for his second goal of the game, making it 6-2 in the 3rd period #FLAvsBOS #TimeToHunt #NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/MZaJBqjv0k
— nopClips (@nopClips) April 23, 2023
Final score: Bruins 6, Panthers 2. Boston takes a 3-1 series lead!
Game Notes
- Jake DeBrusk and Taylor Hall each netted two goals today, showing the Bruins are still scoring from everywhere.
- Don Sweeney’s Trade Deadline acquisitions continue to pay off. Another goal for Bertuzzi plus an assist, another assist from Orlov, and eight hits from Hathaway to lead the team today.
- The power play did something! 2-for-4 and showing signs of life.
- As tilted as the faceoff numbers were against the Bruins in Game 3, they were in favor of the B’s in Game 4: centers were successful 64% of the time, including Charlie Coyle going 15-for-19 (79%) and Tomas Nosek going 14-18 (78%).
- Linus Ullmark(!) gets tossed at the tail end of this one after dropping his gloves! Granted Matt Tkachuk did his rat things and want to muck it up with him only seconds earlier before Brandon Carlo and Derek Forbort swallowed him up, but then Tkachuk gets back in Ullmark’s grill, and the Ice Bear Dude simply won’t have it.
ULLMARK WANTS BLOOD pic.twitter.com/sd5YvoPyKu
— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) April 23, 2023
Game 5 is Wednesday night in Boston, 7 pm EDT puck drop. We’ll be here!
Check out the post-game podcast recap here:
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