Linus Ullmark left the ice with a few minutes left to play, which ordinarily isn’t a great thing for hockey goaltenders.
In this case, it only made the Boston Bruins appreciate him more.
Ullmark stopped 41 shots before leaving the game with 3:11 remaining after drawing a misconduct penalty – he wanted to fight Florida’s Matthew Tkachuk as the highlight of a late-game scrum – and the Bruins beat the Panthers 6-2 on Sunday to move one game away from the second round of the playoffs.
‘I love it,’ Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said of his goalie. ‘He’s all in.’
Taylor Hall had two goals and two assists, Jake DeBrusk scored twice, and the Bruins took a 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference first-round series – with a chance to advance coming in Boston on Wednesday.
Boston Bruins left wing Tyler Bertuzzi (center) celebrates a goal during the third period
Panthers’ Matthew Tkachuk is held back after exchanging punches with Bruins’ Linus Ullmark
Brad Marchand and Tyler Bertuzzi also had goals for the Bruins, who got a second consecutive win on Florida ice. Hall’s goals came in the final 3:36, the second one an empty-netter.
But the talk of the locker room was Ullmark, for good reason.
‘Tkachuk’s kind of doing a lot of things to try and get under our skin but for the most part, we’re doing a great job of keeping it between the whistles, and I’m proud of our group for doing so,’ Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo said. ‘But at times, you’ve got to show a little passion and push back.’
Tkachuk and Sam Bennett had goals for Florida, while Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 25 shots for the Panthers.
Hall put it away with 3:36 left, getting behind Florida’s defense and beating Bobrovsky easily for a 5-2 edge that sent Panthers fans to the exits – possibly for the last time this season.
‘I liked the way we started. Certainly didn’t like the end result,’ Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. ‘But we’ll go into Boston feeling free.’
All Boston needs to do now is avoid a three-game losing streak in order to reach the second round for the fifth time in the past six seasons.
The Bruins dropped three in a row only once all season, on their way to having the best regular-season mark in NHL history – 65-12-5. Sunday’s win was Boston’s 68th of the season; only 10 teams, including playoffs, have ever won more in a single season.
Bruins left wing Jake DeBrusk (74) gestures after scoring a goal against the Florida Panthers
Both of DeBrusk’s goals put Boston on top by two – the first a power-play score 1:52 into the second for a 2-0 lead, the other when he merely had to swipe a puck that popped out of Bobrovsky’s glove into the net for a 4-2 edge with 11:55 remaining.
Boston improved to 39-1-1 this season when leading after the first period, 50-1-2 when leading after two periods, and 52-1-1 in games where it led by two or more goals at any time.
‘We don’t have to think about 3-1 or what’s going on,’ Bobrovsky said. ‘We just have to take the approach of one shift at a time, and keep grinding.’
The Panthers had two notable lineup changes – Bobrovsky was in, Aaron Ekblad was out.
Alex Lyon’s run of 11 consecutive games as Florida´s starting goalie ended, with Bobrovsky getting the call there. Ekblad was listed as a game-time decision after leaving Game 3 early with an undisclosed injury; he wound up sitting out and Casey Fitzgerald played instead.
OILERS 5, KINGS 4
Zach Hyman scored at 10:39 of overtime as the Edmonton Oilers rallied from three goals down late in the first period to beat the Los Angeles Kings 5-4 Sunday night to even their first-round series at two games apiece.
Hyman’s snap shot from the left faceoff circle was his first goal of the playoffs.
Leon Draisaitl had two goals and an assist for the Oilers, Evan Bouchard had a goal and two assists while Evander Kane forced OT with his third-period goal.
Connor McDavid had three assists, and Jack Campbell, who came in after Stuart Skinner was pulled after one period, made 27 saves against his former team.
Edmonton Oilers celebrate the goal scored by left wing Evander Kane (91) against the Kings
STARS 3, WILD 2
Tyler Seguin scored two power-play goals and Jake Oettinger made 33 saves as Dallas evened the first-round series at two games apiece.
Evgenii Dadonov also scored to help the Stars bounce back from a lopsided loss in Game 3.
John Klingberg and Frederick Gaudreau scored for Minnesota, and Filip Gustavsson had 21 saves.
Dadonov gave the Stars a 2-0 lead early in the third period just 8 seconds after escaping the penalty box.
Klingberg scored for the Wild less than three minutes later. Seguin restored the Stars’ two-goal lead with his third goal of the series late in the third before Gaudreau pulled the Wild back within one with 1:20 left.
Game 5 between the Central Division will be in Dallas on Tuesday night.
Dallas Stars center Tyler Seguin (91) reacts after scoring a goal against the Minnesota Wild
HURRICANES 5, ISLANDERS 2
Seth Jarvis scored twice as Carolina snapped an eight-game postseason road losing streak and pushed New York to the brink of elimination.
Sebastian Aho added a goal and two assists and Antti Raanta made 27 saves in helping the Hurricanes win on the road in the playoffs for the first time since the second round in 2021.
Aho’s goal was his record-setting 20th in the postseason with Carolina, breaking the franchise record he shared with Eric Staal.
Martin Necas and Mackenzie MacEachern also scored and Stefan Noesen had two assists. The Hurricanes can wrap up the best-of-seven series in Game 5 at home on Tuesday night.
Adam Pelech and Bo Horvat scored for the Islanders. Ilya Sorokin made 24 saves.
Hurricanes’ Mackenzie MacEachern (28) celebrates with Brett Pesce after scoring a goal
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