SUNRISE — The question becomes: Will the Florida Panthers wake up for Game 2? Will they wipe the sleep from their rested eyes? Will they get back to the smart and simple-Simon style that defines them?
By Wednesday night, will they shake off the kind of uncharacteristic defensive turnovers that led to Boston scoring five consecutive goals — three goals on three straight shots — in Monday’s opening game of their second-round playoff series?
“We gave up 7 shots in the (second) period,’’ Florida Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “They put three of them in. It’s not (goalie Sergei Bobrovsky). Two of them we didn’t break the puck out. The third one we got beat on a play off a rush that should get killed fairly easily.”
He’d gone far enough, he figured.
“Coaching,’’ he said. “It’s on the coach.”
The normal grinding, stymieing, bang-the-puck-up-the-sideboards play that’s defines the Panthers defense wasn’t around in Game 1. And veteran, normally steady defenseman Aaron Ekblad was Exhibit A.
His poor pass up the middle was intercepted by Boston star David Pastrnak in the first period leading to a breakaway. Bobrovsky stopped that. It was the first of two Pastrnak breakaways Bobrovsky stopped to keep the game scoreless. Talk about making mistakes with the wrong guy.
After Matthew Tkachuk gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead, Bobrovsky threw a puck around the boards, and Ekblad couldn’t contain it. That resulted Boston winger Morgan Geekie beating Bobrovsky to tie it 67 seconds after Tkachuk’s goal.
“He’s a Florida Panther, and I love them all,’’ Maurce said. “He’ll be better next game like the rest of them.”
Those mistakes meant Boston wrecked the Panthers’ Game 1 hopes with a bunch of nobodies. That’s meant as a compliment. Boston was a team of stars last spring when the Panthers ended their historically great regular season in spectacular opening-round fashion.
Florida Panthers center Carter Verhaeghe moves the puck against the Boston Bruins during the first period of Game 1 of the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise on Monday, May 6, 2024. (John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Florida Panthers center Anton Lundell takes a shot on net against the Boston Bruins during the first period of Game 1 of the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise on Monday, May 6, 2024. (John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Florida Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky stops a shot against the Boston Bruins during the first period of Game 1 of the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise on Monday, May 6, 2024. (John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Florida Panthers left wing Matthew Tkachuk looks on during a timeout against the Boston Bruins during the first period of Game 1 of the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise on Monday, May 6, 2024. (John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Florida Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky grabs a loose puck against the Boston Bruins during the first period of Game 1 of the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise on Monday, May 6, 2024. (John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Florida Panthers head coach Paul Maurice shouts against the Boston Bruins during the first period of Game 1 of the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise on Monday, May 6, 2024. (John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Florida Panthers left wing Matthew Tkachuk moves the puck against the Boston Bruins during the second period of Game 1 of the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise on Monday, May 6, 2024. (John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Florida Panthers center Carter Verhaeghe celebrates after a goal by left wing Matthew Tkachuk against the Boston Bruins during the second period of Game 1 of the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise on Monday, May 6, 2024. (John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Florida Panthers left wing Matthew Tkachuk celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal against the Boston Bruins during the second period of Game 1 of the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise on Monday, May 6, 2024. (John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Florida Panthers left wing Matthew Tkachuk reacts after scoring a goal against the Boston Bruins during the second period of Game 1 of the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise on Monday, May 6, 2024. (John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Florida Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky is scored on by the Boston Bruins during the second period of Game 1 of the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise on Monday, May 6, 2024. (John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Player from the Boston Bruins celebrate after scoring a goal against the Florida Panthers during the second period of Game 1 of the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise on Monday, May 6, 2024. (John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Florida Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky was left to fend on his own too much by defensive lapses in Game 1. (John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Players from the Boston Bruins celebrate after scoring a goal against the Florida Panthers during the second period of Game 1 of the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise on Monday, May 6, 2024. (John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Fans cheer as the Boston Bruins score against the Florida Panthers during the second period of Game 1 of the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise on Monday, May 6, 2024. (John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Boston Bruins defenseman Mason Lohrei celebrates after scoring a goal against the Florida Panthers during the second period of Game 1 of the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise on Monday, May 6, 2024. (John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Florida Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky is scored on by Boston Bruins right wing Justin Brazeau during the third period of Game 1 of the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise on Monday, May 6, 2024. (John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Boston Bruins right wing Justin Brazeau celebrates after scoring a goal against the Florida Panthers during the third period of Game 1 of the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise on Monday, May 6, 2024. (John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
A scuffle breaks out between the Boston Bruins and the Florida Panthers during the third period of Game 1 of the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise on Monday, May 6, 2024. (John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Boston Bruins goalies Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark celebrate after beating the Florida Panthers in Game 1 of the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise on Monday, May 6, 2024. (John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Florida Panthers center Aleksander Barkov looks on after losing to the Boston Bruins in Game 1 of the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise on Monday, May 6, 2024. (John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Now look at them. Boston got goals Monday from: a physical winger in Geekie, a rookie defenseman in Mason Lohrei scoring his first playoff goal, another defenseman in Brandon Carlo, who spent the previous night watching the birth of his baby, and an offseason symbol of all their change in Justin Brazeau. In short: Who? Who? Who? And who?
Ekblad didn’t talk to the media, so it was left for Tkachuk to say: “There were some mistakes out there with some puck play, with some decision-making, but we’ll change that for next game.”
Was it the week layoff for the Panthers after beating Tampa Bay? Was it Boston coming in on an adrenaline high of a Game 7 win against Toronto on Saturday night?
It’s not that the Panthers came out slow. Eleven Panthers had 12 hits in the first eight minutes. They had a couple chances. But slowly, patiently, Boston found its way and played the grinding kind of game expected to define this series.
For all its smaller names coming through, Boston’s top star showed up, too. Goalie Jeremy Swayman was Jeremy Swagger. He stopped 38 of 39 shots to pick right up after a Toronto series, where he allowed 1.49 goals a game and stopped 95 percent of the shots.
To think, Boston coach Jim Montgomery considered resting Swayman for Game 1, too.
“But when a guy’s playing that well, it’s like, ‘Don’t outsmart yourself,’ ” Montgomery said.
Maurice talked of a “mindset’’ needed to play Swayman, and Tkachuck pointed to getting bodies in front of him as the biggest change they need to make. But that was a secondary problem in Game 1.
“Scoring’s not the issue,’’ Maurice said. “Chances are not the issue.”
Simple-Simon, defense-first play is. That’s how the Panthers have won playoff games. It’s how they played in the Tampa Bay series.
It was lost in Game 1. Will they find it in Game 2?
