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May 17, 2024, 10:18 PM ET
BOSTON — Florida Panthers coach Paul Maurice considered it a good omen when the fire alarm went off at the team hotel Friday afternoon, just as he was settling in for a pregame nap.
“In my career, the number of times that something got messed up at the hotel … it’s like a guaranteed win,” Maurice said after a 2-1 victory over the Boston Bruins earned the Panthers a spot in the Eastern Conference finals. “I said, ‘If this holds true, I guarantee we’re winning today.'”
Maurice’s superstition held true a few hours later when defenseman Gustav Forsling scored the tiebreaking goal with 1:33 left and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 22 shots to help the Panthers clinch their second-round playoff series in six games.
A year after playing for the Stanley Cup, the Panthers will meet the New York Rangers in the Eastern Conference finals. Maurice might have been deprived of a nap Friday, but his team has five days to prepare for Game 1 against the Rangers on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden.
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Anton Lundell scored for the Panthers and set up the game winner when his shot was deflected to the left side of the net. Forsling came in and beat Jeremy Swayman on the short side.
“I didn’t see it go in,” said Forsling, who scored 10 in the regular season with one game winner. “I just saw someone else react. It was amazing. I’m not usually the guy who scores the game-winning goal; I’m out there trying to defend. It’s nice to help your team win, but I’ll stick to defense.”
Florida won all three games in Boston this series and has taken six straight playoff games at the TD Garden. The Panthers also knocked the record-setting Bruins out of the playoffs last year on their way to the Stanley Cup Final, where they lost to the Vegas Golden Knights.
“They had had such a big year last year,” Maurice said. “This series felt way different than last year’s. I think we’re a much better team than we were last year when we came in here.”
Swayman stopped 26…
Source link : https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/40168164/panthers-oust-bruins-6-games-face-rangers-east-final
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Publish date : 2024-05-18 13:37:48
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