The curse of the Presidents’ Trophy lives another year, especially when it comes to record-setting regular season teams, as like the 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings and 2018-19 Tampa Bay Lightning before them, the 65-win, 135-point Boston Bruins will bow out much earlier than expected. And in an ironic twist of fate, it was last year’s Presidents’ Trophy winners in the Florida Panthers that eliminated them after a year that saw them struggle and barely make the playoffs.
It certainly started out like the Panthers were going to complete the comeback and the upset. Brandon Montour opened the scoring for Florida midway through the first period, and then Sam Reinhart followed that with a goal just 1:14 into the second to give the Panthers the 2-0 lead. They were pressuring in all departments, and for the first time all year, the Bruins truly looked nervous.
But the Bruins have been in this position before. In fact, it was almost 10 years ago when the Bruins had their backs against the wall in Boston, down 4-1 to the Toronto Maple Leafs after blowing a 3-1 series lead. One member of that team scored for this one, with David Krejci scoring the Bruins' first goal midway through the second to cut the lead in half. The third period came around and it was Tyler Bertuzzi tying the game and David Pastrnak scoring the go-ahead goal only 4:11 into the frame, and the unbeatable Bruins team looked to be back on top.
But, you can never count out this Panthers squad. Montour would register his second of the game to tie it with just a minute left in the game, and Carter Verhaeghe stepped up to the plate and gave the Panthers the overtime winner at the 8:35 mark, and the Panthers win the game (and the series) 4-3. Montour’s two goals, Verhaeghe’s goal and assist, and Anton Lundell’s two assists led the scoring for the Panthers, Krejci led the way for the Bruins with a goal and two assists, and Sergei Bobrovsky had a solid night when the Panthers needed it, stopping 33 of 36 in the win.
With that, the Panthers move on to the second round for the second year in a row after ending their 24-season playoff series win drought last season, and they will face the Maple Leafs in the second round, a team that also just ended their lengthy playoff series win drought. The Bruins will end their season in disappointment after how their regular season went, and fail to advance to the second round for the second year in a row.
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