Boston Bruins’ Gregory Campbell (left) is defended by Florida Panthers’ Aleksander Barkov (right) and goalie Roberto Luongo during their NHL game in Boston on Tuesday. (USA TODAY Sports)
By Harvey Fialkov/Sun Sentinel (TNS)
This felt like a Game 7 intensity-wise, and if it was then get out the golf clubs.
The Panthers’ season and playoff hopes went from intensive care to life support after once again blowing a skimpy lead in the third period before giving up a goal with 69 seconds left to lose 3-2 to the Boston Bruins at a deafening TD Garden Tuesday night.
With five games remaining for both the Panthers and Bruins, the Panthers fell six points behind Boston for the final wild-card playoff berth which places their tragic number at four points. Any combination of four points lost out of the possible 10 remaining by the Panthers or four points (two wins) gained by the Bruins means no playoffs in Sunrise for the third straight year.
And that’s not including the pesky Ottawa Senators,who beat Detroit in overtime and lead the Panthers by three. The Bruins also hold the tiebreaker edge by having more ROW points (combination of regulation and overtime wins).
The players were somber and banged up, including Jaromir Jagr nursing a bruised hand from a slash and Jonathan Huberdeau getting his bruised side tended to.
“It’s frustrating. We let two points get away,” said Brandon Pirri, who scored his 21st goal in the second period. “We’re not going to feel sorry for ourselves. We’ll play the last five games strong. We need some luck.”
The Panthers finished this critical road trip at 2-2-1 giving them a road mark of 17-16-8. They’ll close out the season with a five-game homestand that begins and ends with marshmallows in the Hurricanes and Devils, but is stuffed with crème de la crème teams like the Lightning, Canadiens and possibly an anticlimactic April 9th rematch with the Bruins
“We got that 2-1 lead after two and come out in the third and it looked like we sat back a little bit,” Panthers coach Gerard Gallant said. “That’s not what we wanted to do, we wanted to be more aggressive. They really came hard in the third period.
“Obviously, it’s going to take five wins. Can we do it? We just played five great games in a row. ... We’ll battle hard and see what happens.”
The Panthers led 2-1 after two periods but David Pastrnak’s deflection of Ryan Spooner’s weird-angle shot tied it at 9:47 of the third. Then with 1:09 left, Milan Lucic burst up the middle after taking a whack from Jimmy Hayes before wristing it through Roberto Luongo, who was deprived of his 400th-career victory.
“There are no excuses for those last two goals there,” said Luongo, who had 26 saves. “That’s my job to make saves. When I don’t make them I feel responsible. One game at a time. The odds are against us but we’ll regroup and fight hard. Obviously, this is a tough one tonight.”
The Bruins dominated offensive zone posssesion in the first period and after hitting two goal posts made it 1-0 on Loui Eriksson’s flip shot at 16:57 for his 20th goal.
Thanks to an early penalty by Brad Marchand, the Panthers needed just 55 seconds of their favorite second period when Brian Campbell set up Pirri aka the Rifleman for his trademark one-timer from the right circle over Tuukka Rask’s shoulder. It was Pirri’s 12th goal in his last 16 games since coming back from a shoulder injury.
Second-period magic struck again at 12:37 when Bruins defenseman Matt Bartkowski fanned on a shot from the point. Slumping right wing Brad Boyes, scratched Sunday for defenseman Steven Kampfer, scooped it up on a breakaway before gently snapping it 5-hole on Tuukka Rask for a 2-1 lead and the former Bruins’ 13th goal -- but second in his last 13 games.
The Panthers have lost eight straight and 10 of the last 11 in Boston, dating back to their last win here on Dec. 8, 2011 (2-0).
“They’re a tough team in here,” Boyes said. “They’re big. They got a good crowd. It’s a tough place to play. We played well enough to win but it’s just a couple of mistakes. We got to learn how to win.”
Rask (22 saves) is now 12-1-1 versus the Panthers, as the Bruins won their third straight.
O’Brien suspended
Panthers/Rampage defenseman Shane O’Brien was suspended for three games by the AHL for an illegal check to the head of an opponent in a game at Iowa on Mar. 28.
O’Brien, who was signed to a two-way contract in the preseason, has played nine games for the Panthers this year and has one assist with a minus-4 ice rating.