Bruins face spectre of blown series lead against Panthers

After avoiding blowing a 3-1 series lead in successive seasons with its 2-1 overtime win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night, the Boston Bruins will immediately face the team that beat them three times in a row facing elimination in the first-round of the 2023 playoffs, the Florida Panthers.

The Eastern Conference second-round series will begin in Florida on Monday at 8 p.m..

The Panthers went all the way to the Stanley Cup Final last season after their shocking elimination of the Bruins, which had set NHL records for win and points during the regular season.

“It’s a [heck] of an opponent, and I think we know each other pretty well and where our strengths are,” Boston general manager Don Sweeney said via Joe Pohoryles of NHL.com on Sunday. “It’s just [going to] come down to winning the small areas of the game that generally translate throughout a series, and hopefully we find a way to persevere this year.”

Florida advanced to the second round by eliminating its cross-state rivals the Tampa Bay Lightning in five games.

Rallying from the 3-1 hole against the Bruins last season galvanized the Panthers in their belief in themselves.

“It showed we could beat anybody and it gave us a lot of confidence,” Star Panthers' winger Matthew Tkachuk told Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald. “No matter who we played, no matter what building we’re in, no matter what happens here, we have a chance to win. It brought us super close together, and the effects of that series are still being shown off.”