Bruins win Game 3 to take 2-1 series lead over Panthers
BOSTON -- The Bruins bounced back in a big way on Friday night to reclaim control of their first-round playoff series with the Panthers. Boston beat Florida, 4-2, to take a 2-1 series lead.
Boston got goals from Taylor Hall, Charlie Coyle, David Pastrnak, and Nick Foligno, while Linus Ullmark made 28 saves in net in the victory. The Panthers made things interesting with a pair of goals late in the third period, but Boston held on for the win.
The Bruins jumped on the board early when Hall beat Alex Lyons with a wrister just 2:26 into the game. It was Hall's second goal of the postseason, after he scored in the final minutes of Boston's 6-3 loss in Game 2.
Coyle doubled Boston's leads six minutes into the second period when he deflected a Brad Marchand wrister by Lyons for his first goal of the postseason.
After the Panthers put some pressure on the Bruins early in the third period, Pastrnak came through with a huge goal for Boston. Dmitry Orlov found him behind the Florida defense up ice, and Pastrnak sniped it by Lyons glove side to make it 3-0.
It was Pastrnak's second goal of the series and the 32nd playoff goal of his career. After that serving of Pasta, Lyons was replaced by Segie Bobrovsky in net.
That change didn't help the Panthers, as Nick Foligno scored three minutes later to make it a 4-0 Boston lead. Foligno was supposed to be a healthy scratch for the game, but was inserted into the lineup when David Krejci was a late scratch for the Bruins with an upper-body injury.
Ullmark was a game-time decision for Boston, but ended up starting his third straight game in net. The Panthers tested him early, sending eight shots his way in the first period, but Ullmark stopped them all. He was tested just four times in the second period, and turned away all four of those Panthers shots.
The Panthers made things interesting after Folingo's tally, scoring a pair of goals in a 1:20 span. Gustav Forsling beat Ullmark on a shorthanded rush, and Sam Reinhart scored with four minutes on the clock when he cleaned up a loose puck in front of the Boston net.
But the Bruins held on the rest of the way to take a 2-1 series lead and steal home-ice advantage back from the Panthers. Game 4 is set for Sunday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. in Florida.
