Panthers power play breaks out in Game 3 win against Bruins

BOSTON -- The Florida Panthers always believed their power play would break through eventually.

It did in a timely fashion Friday, producing four goals in a 6-2 victory against the Boston Bruins in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Second Round at TD Garden.

Vladimir Tarasenko and Carter Verhaeghe scored one minute apart on the power play late in the second period as the Panthers converted on both halves of a high-sticking double minor on Bruins defenseman Mason Lohrei to increase their lead to 3-0. Then Brandon Montour and Evan Rodrigues scored power-play goals in the third period for Florida, which took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-7 series with Game 4 in Boston on Sunday (6:30 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TBS, SN, TVAS).

“I’ve been far more bullish on power play than the stats or at least the goals would tell you I should be,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “But our analytics on expected goals for on our power play are very, very high. It’s easy to say now, ‘Well, it’s just a matter of time,’ but if you keep doing the right things over and over, you’re going to have a good night, and I think we saved those up.”

The Panthers went 4-for-6 on the power play Friday after they sputtered in going 1-for-9 in the first two games of the series and 0-for-11 against the Bruins in their four regular-season games against each other.

Overall, Boston had allowed only two power-play goals in 30 times shorthanded in the Stanley Cup Playoffs heading into Game 3. Florida took some encouragement, though, from Aleksander Barkov scoring on the power play for its fifth goal in a 6-1 win in Game 2 on Wednesday.

“I actually think we’ve been good on the power play the last bunch of games. They just haven’t gone in,” said forward Matthew Tkachuk, who had three assists Friday. “I think that goal from ‘Barky’ at the end of Game 2 was really big for confidence, seeing one go in.”

It didn’t appear that success carried over into Game 3 initially when the Panthers failed to convert on two man-advantage opportunities in the first period. Despite that, the Panthers controlled play, outshooting the Bruins 13-3 in the first and taking a 1-0 lead when Rodrigues batted in an airborne puck in front at 8:04.

Although Florida’s territorial dominance continued into the second period, the Panthers couldn’t add to their lead, despite numerous chances. Boston was beginning to generate some offensive-zone time and push back until Lohrei’s stick caught Florida forward Steven Lorentz in the mouth at 14:37, giving the Panthers a chance to take control with the four-minute power play.

“That was a huge opportunity for us, and we knew it and we capitalized,” Panthers forward Sam Bennett said. “I think power-play goals in the playoffs, they can be hard to come by at times and our power play did a great job of bearing down and getting two very important goals at an important time in the game.”

Bennett, who returned after missing five games with an upper-body injury, played a pivotal role with his cross-ice pass to set up Tarasenko for a left-circle shot that beat Jeremy Swayman over his catching glove at 16:14. 

Tarasenko’s goal came before the first minor expired, so Florida still had two minutes remaining from the second minor to add its lead and cashed in again when Verhaeghe redirected in Tkachuk’s centering pass to make it 3-0 at 17:14. 

“We talk a lot about building the momentum,” Tarasenko said. “Sometimes you can’t score for a long time on the power play, but it’s important to keep being focused and working on things. Guys made nice plays and that was a big moment of the game.”

Brimming with confidence, the Panthers capitalized on a goalie interference minor assessed to Jakub Lauko 2:07 into the third period when Montour scored on a center-point slap shot that beat Swayman under the crossbar at 3:09 to make it 4-0. The Bruins pushed back after that to close within 4-2, but Sam Reinhart ended their comeback hopes with an empty-net goal with 1:24 left.

Then, Florida needed only nine seconds to convert on Andrew Peeke’s cross-checking minor with 1:00 left when Rodrigues scored on a one-timer from the left circle to make it 6-2.

In one night, the Panthers improved from 11.1 percent (1-for-9) to 33.3 percent (5-for-15) in the series. The Panthers viewed it as their success rate catching up with the opportunities they were creating.

“We had a bunch that didn’t go for us,” Maurice said. “… What were we, 4-for-6? That’s fair, but our power play is pretty good.”