BOSTON — It comes down to Game 7.
Many didn’t think the best regular-season team in the NHL would need seven games to defeat its first-round opponent in the Stanley Cup playoffs, but the Boston Bruins are on the brink of elimination as the Florida Panthers have become a serious adversary. The Panthers staved off elimination with a 7-5 win in Game 6 on Saturday night at FLA Live Arena in Sunrise, Florida. The Bruins will host Game 7 on Sunday night at TD Garden.
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The Panthers have been a bigger and stronger team than the Bruins in this series, which doesn’t bode well for Game 7. However, the Bruins have the experience in these types of situations, but they need to play a cleaner game than they did in Game 6. It’s simple: win or go home. If the Panthers do prevail, it will be a catastrophic ending to a historic season for the Bruins, who have been motivated to win for their captain, Patrice Bergeron.
The Bruins were victims of their own mistakes, some bad breaks and a couple of questionable calls in Game 6. So, it comes down to one game. It doesn’t matter what’s already occurred in this series, the Bruins need to focus and win on home ice. No doubt it will be a hard-fought battle with the winner advancing to the next round.
Bergeron decided to return for one more season because he knew this team has the ability, talent and drive to produce as it did during the regular season. In fact, the Bruins remain the odds-on favorite to win the Stanley Cup, but they haven’t been consistently sharp against the Panthers. Anything less than a Stanley Cup championship would be a huge disappointment for the Bruins with everything they have accomplished in 2022-23.
This will be 13th Game 7 for Bergeron and the Bruins are 6-7 in these situations with him in the lineup. Linemate Brad Marchand has played in 10 Game 7s and Boston is 6-4 in that scenario. Players dream of winning a Game 7 in the Stanley Cup playoffs, and now the Bruins have the opportunity to experience that once again with Bergeron and Marchand leading the way.
Boston’s frustrations have been evident this series, but the Bruins need to relax and take advantage of having home ice in Game 7. As cliché as it may sound, they need to bring a certain level of emotion and leave everything on the ice. It would be an historic collapse if the Bruins can’t win this series, and the Panthers now believe they can beat Boston in its building.
From a pure hockey standpoint, it’s been an entertaining series and there’s nothing better than a Game 7. Goaltending has been a major reason the Bruins enjoyed a successful regular season but Linus Ullmark has struggled. If he gets the start, he will need to be Boston’s best player on Sunday. The Panthers have played well in Boston, so it’s either win or the Bruins are done. Like any good team, the Bruins must forget about the Game 6 debacle and focus on Game 7.
Led by Bergeron, David Krejci and Marchand, the Bruins won the Stanley Cup in 2011. They returned to the finals in 2013 and 2019 before losing to the Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues, respectively. Sunday’s game could shape this team’s legacy. They can’t dwell on how they got to this point, the Bruins need to embrace the moment and finish with a win.
The Bruins probably weren’t expecting this series to go the distance, but it has and it should be an epic game. This historic season in Boston depends on the Bruins winning at least one more game. It comes down to character and which teams wants it most. The Panthers are a dangerous team and the Bruins need to respond with their brand of hockey that helped get them to this point.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Boston, the best team in the regular season, tries to subdue upstart Florida
