Watch: Bruins strike first in Game 6 with cool backhand goal

Boston Bruins center Pavel Zacha scores a goal past Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky during the first period in Game 6. Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports

Watch: Bruins strike first in Game 6 with incredible backhand goal

By Mike Santa Barbara | Last updated 5/17/24

Facing a must-win situation, the Boston Bruins struck first in Game 6 against the Florida Panthers on Friday. With under a minute to go in the opening period, Pavel Zacha scored on a breakaway to give them a 1-0 advantage heading into the intermission.

After some strong checking and a beautiful feed from forward Jake DeBrusk, Zacha was all alone, one-on-one with netminder Sergei Bobrovsky, beating him with a flashy backhander at 19:07 of the first.

PAVEL ZACHA, WHAT A GOAL! pic.twitter.com/4TauVPDkbq
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 17, 2024

After going scoreless in his previous 24 playoff outings (11 assists), Zacha's tally was his first career goal in the postseason.

Following a few nervous moments on both sides of the ice, the first period of Game 6 had a nice pace, with few whistles stopping play. However, after going 14:11 without a shot on net, the Bruins put an exclamation point on things with Zacha's goal.

Bruins netminder Jeremy Swayman turned away eight shots in the opening period and looked sharp doing so. But there are still two periods to go.

With their backs against the wall, it's unlikely that Zacha's goal alone will be enough to help the Bruins secure a victory and force a deciding Game 7 on Sunday. Aside from the Bruins' 2-1 win in Game 5, the two teams have combined for five goals or more in every game of the series.

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