Panthers’ run to Stanley Cup Finals makes Bruins loss even more painful originally appeared nbc sports boston
The Florida Panthers are no joke.
their Tejaswi upset in first round The Boston Bruins winning the Presidents’ Trophy in the first round of the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs was no surprise in a record-breaking affair.
since Down 3-1 in their first round matchup Against the Bruins, the Panthers have won 11 of their last 12 games, the last of which was an Eastern Conference title win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday night. 4-3 win at FLA Live Arena The ‘Canes and Punches’ completed the Panthers’ ticket to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 1996.
Does the Panthers’ improbable run to the Cup Finals make the Bruins’ defeat less painful? Should this be seen as less trouble, especially if Florida finishes the job and wins its first championship?
No,not at all.
In fact, this run by the Panthers made Boston’s historic Round 1 exit even more difficult.
One thing the Panthers have shown is that the road to the Stanley Cup Finals isn’t as difficult through the East as we thought a month ago.
Don’t take too much out of Panthers. He has performed brilliantly in all three rounds. But prior to the playoffs the former was supposed to be a complete letdown with elite teams battling in six or seven game series, and that scenario never came to fruition. Remember, five of the seven teams with the best Cup odds pre-playoff were in the East.
The Bruins had several chances to eliminate the Panthers. Brad Marchand There was a breakaway in the final seconds of Game 5. B could have won that game in overtime but Linus Ulmark’s turnover cost them dearly, The Bees had multiple third period leads in Game 6 and lost 7–5. They took the lead with a minute left in regulation of Game 7 at home before losing again in OT,
If the Bruins win any of those games, it’s not hard to imagine them preparing for the Stanley Cup Finals right now.
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The Toronto Maple Leafs once again proved to be incredible when it mattered most. The Leafs’ top players – Auston Matthews, William Nylander, Mitch Marner and John Tavares – failed to be consistent in clutch situations against the Panthers. Florida swept Toronto in five games in the second round. There’s no reason the Bruins couldn’t do something similar the Leafs squad Boston has owned for the past decade.
The Carolina Hurricanes were pretty beaten by the time they reached the Eastern Conference Finals. They were without three of their best forwards – Max Pacioretty, Andrei Svechnikov and Teuvo Tervainen – due to injury. The Hurricanes’ depth was depleted up front and they conceded just six goals in four Conference Finals games against the Panthers. Carolina’s goaltending for the regular season was mediocre and it wasn’t much better in the playoffs.
Unlike last season, the Bruins will probably roll through this edition of the Hurricanes, as they did during the 2019 Eastern Conference Finals.
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Of course, there’s no guarantee that if the Bruins had beaten the Panthers, they would have steamrolled through the second and third rounds. Patrice BergeronHumpus Lindholm (and potentially other players) struggled with injuries, but they had a good chance of reaching the cup final.
And that’s what makes the first-round loss even more excruciating for the Bruins. The path was not very difficult. The competition was not as fierce as had been imagined. The 2023 playoffs were a golden opportunity for the franchise to win its second Stanley Cup this century. We could have a Bruce Cassidy vs. The Bruins matchup in the Stanley Cup Finals – assuming their Vegas Golden Knights eliminate the Dallas Stars (VGK is up 3-0). It would have been unbelievable.
Bruins’ shocking exit from Panthers the franchise will haunt forever, That doesn’t change if the Panthers reach the Stanley Cup Finals. In fact, it should only add to the frustration in Boston.
