Panthers defeat Bruins in Game 6, push Eastern 1st-Round series to limit

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Eetu Luostarinen broke a tie with 5:38 left in the third period, and the Florida Panthers stayed alive with a 7-5 victory against the Boston Bruins in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference First Round at FLA Live Arena on Friday.

The best-of-7 series is tied 3-3. Game 7 will be in Boston on Sunday.
Luostarinen gave Florida a 6-5 lead with a wrist shot from the left face-off circle, and Sam Reinhart scored an empty-net goal at 19:32 for the 7-5 final.
Matthew Tkachuk had two goals and an assist, and Aleksander Barkov, Brandon Montour and Luostarinen each had a goal and an assist for the Panthers, the second wild card from the East. Sergei Bobrovsky made 29 saves.
Florida first avoided elimination with a 4-3 overtime victory in Game 5 at Boston on Wednesday.
"It's a big win," Bobrovsky said. "It's a 0-0 score. The next game is the biggest game, so we have to be ready, be humble, but enjoy tonight. It's a huge win. It's a fun win. And I'd say it's a great feeling for sure."

David Pastrnak scored twice, Tyler Bertuzzi had two goals and an assist, and Brad Marchand had four assists for the Bruins, who won the Presidents' Trophy as the top team during the regular season. Linus Ullmark made 26 saves.
"It was a great hockey game," Boston coach Jim Montgomery said. "I mean, wow. That's what the Stanley Cup Playoffs are about, right? Back-and-forth all night long. It was that kind of game where there was just teams making great plays offensively."
RELATED: [Complete Bruins vs. Panthers series coverage]
Trailing 3-2 after two periods, the Bruins took the lead in the third period twice but couldn't hang on.
"I thought it was more of what Florida was doing and us not winning races to our net, not protecting the slot," Montgomery said. "You've got to give credit to Florida. What a determined group [to] force a Game 7 here."
Bertuzzi tied it 3-3 at 1:31 of the third period with a shot from the right circle, and Pastrnak scored a power-play goal at 3:53 to give Boston a 4-3 lead.

Zac Dalpe tied it 4-4 at 7:21, one-timing a pass by Luostarinen from behind the goal line.
It was Dalpe's first goal in six NHL playoff games. The 33-year-old forward has 16 goals in 168 regular-season games since the 2010-11 season.
"I probably will remember it and not sleep tonight," Dalpe said. "Phone might be going off a bit but, yeah, that one I guess was for Paris, Ontario, where I'm from. So, hopefully, they all saw it."
Jake DeBrusk gave the Bruins a 5-4 lead with a short-handed goal at 10:22 before Tkachuk tied it 5-5 on the same power play at 10:49.
"A short-handed goal in a game that important can cripple you," Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. "If it was the first time we've seen Matthew do something like that, we would say what a great time to step up, except it's just almost routine for him."

Montour gave Florida a 1-0 lead at 2:01 of the first period, scoring on a wrist shot from the left circle during a 4-on-3 power play.
Bertuzzi tied it 1-1 at 6:09 when he scored on his own rebound on a backhand in front on a power play.
Tkachuk made it 2-1 at 13:52, scoring on the rebound of a shot by Nick Cousins during a 2-on-1.
Pastrnak tied it 2-2 at 5:42 of the second period. With his back turned to the goal, he scored on a between-the-legs move after he received a pass from Marchand at the left post.
"Honestly, I guess it's just instinct," Pastrnak said. "I'm not there very often. I know when in front, you don't have much time, so I just tried to get it on and off my stick real quick.
"It was a nice goal. It obviously would be better with a win. It doesn't matter right now. We focus on our group and how to recover and regroup, focus on the next game."

Boston appeared to take a 3-2 lead at 8:28 on a wrist shot from the point by Brandon Carlo, but the goal was overturned after the Panthers successfully challenged for a hand pass against DeBrusk.
Barkov then gave Florida a 3-2 lead at 9:22, scoring on a backhand on a loose puck in the crease.
"I couldn't shut the door today, unfortunately," Ullmark said. "Just (got to) make one more save. That's it. Sometimes that's the part of the game that unfortunately doesn't really happen sometimes. And today was one of those days."
NOTES: Bruins center David Krejci had one hit, three blocked shot and was minus-1 in 17:44 of ice time after missing three games with an upper-body injury. … Montour has three goals in the series, surpassing Jason Woolley (1996) for the most in a series by a Panthers defenseman. … Marchand has 128 points (53 goals, 75 assists) in 145 playoff games, tying Patrice Bergeron for the second-most postseason points in Boston history. Only Ray Bourque (161 points) has more.