Stanley Cup Playoffs Day 10: Bobrovsky steals one in Boston to help Panthers extend series

Mike Gould
Mike Gould
Stanley Cup Playoffs Day 10: Bobrovsky steals one in Boston to help Panthers extend series
Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports

The first round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs is beginning to get very interesting.

We’re 10 days into the postseason. All 16 teams are still alive. And what Wednesday’s slate of games lacked in quantity, it more than made up with high-quality action on all sides.

We saw a pair of one-goal games on Day 10, with the one on the east coast extending all the way into overtime. We’ll start in Boston and head west from there.

Bruins blow it in disappointing Game 5 loss at home

The Boston Bruins outshot the Florida Panthers by a 47–25 margin in Wednesday’s playoff game at TD Garden. Their only problem: Sergei Bobrovsky was in the other net.

The $10 million man more than looked the part with the Panthers’ season on the line in Game 5 of their series against the Bruins, making 44 saves in more than 66 minutes of action to force a Game 6 in Sunrise, Fla. on Friday.

Bobrovsky’s biggest save of the night (and the season) came with one second remaining in regulation — and on one of the Bruins’ top scorers. Brad Marchand could’ve punched the Bruins’ ticket into the second round with a goal on his last-second breakaway, but Bobrovsky stoned him cold with an excellent right-pad save.

The Panthers and Bruins traded goals in regulation, with Boston successfully countering each time Florida took a one-goal lead through the first three periods.

Anthony Duclair, Sam Bennett, and Sam Bennett tallied for Florida through 60; Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, and Charlie Coyle countered for the hosts.

But what looked to be a solid goaltending duel fell apart in rather anti-climatic fashion at the 6:05 mark of overtime. We’re still not entirely sure what Linus Ullmark was trying to do here, but Matthew Tkachuk made him pay in the worst possible way.

Florida now trails the series three games to two and will host Game 6 of the series at FLA Live Arena. Mark your calendars for Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Seattle stuns the defending champs with 3–2 win in Game 5

Less than a year after being crowned Stanley Cup champions, the Colorado Avalanche are one loss away from being ousted in the first round of the 2023 playoffs.

Their opponents have never won a series.

The Seattle Kraken took a 3–2 series lead over the Avalanche with a win by the same score at Ball Arena in Denver on Wednesday night. Two-time Cup champ Yanni Gourde scored the winner early in the third period to push the Avalanche to the brink of elimination.

Former Avalanche goaltender Philipp Grubauer continued his torment of his old team with a 26-save performance in Game 5. The Kraken outshot the Avs by a 29–28 count and never trailed in Wednesday’s contest.

After a scoreless first period, Morgan Geekie got Seattle on the board at the 6:35 mark of the second (Jaden Schwartz and Alex Wennberg notched the assists).

Although Nathan MacKinnon responded just over a minute later for Colorado, Kraken rookie Tye Kartye (playing in his first NHL game of any kind) answered right back one second shy of the midway mark of the period to restore his team’s one-goal lead.

Gourde put the Kraken up 3–1 with what would go down as the winning goal exactly 100 seconds into the third period. Evan Rodrigues made it interesting late, netting his first of the series with Avalanche starter Alexandar Georgiev on the bench in the dying minutes, but the hosts ultimately fell just short.

Game 6 of this series has the potential to be one for the ages. If any team can come through with its season on the line in the hostile territory that is Climate Pledge Arena, it’s the Avalanche. But the Kraken have proven themselves to be more than worthy opponents.

Buckle up. The Kraken and Avalanche will meet again on Friday at 7:00 p.m. PT.

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