Swayman Makes 38 Saves As Bruins Defeat Panthers in Game 1

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Jeremy Swayman made 38 saves for the Boston Bruins in a 5-1 win against the Florida Panthers in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Second Round at Amerant Bank Arena on Monday.

Game 2 of the best-of-7 series will be here on Wednesday.

“I thought we had a great start in general, and that got me going," Swayman said. “My job is to stop the puck regardless of what kind of a save it is.”

Mason Lohrei and Justin Brazeau each scored his first career Stanley Cup Playoff goal for the Bruins, who are the No. 2 seed from the Atlantic Division.

“I thought our effort was good,” Boston coach Jim Montgomery said. “I thought we were physical. I do not think our execution was close to where it needs to be.”

Matthew Tkachuk scored, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 24 saves for the Panthers, who are the No. 1 seed from the Atlantic.

The Bruins were coming off a 2-1 overtime win against the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 7 of their first-round series on Saturday. The Panthers hadn't played since eliminating the Tampa Bay Lightning in five games on April 29.

“We weren’t great tonight,” Panther coach Paul Maurice said. “I don’t know that the game was exactly like the score. It doesn’t really matter. They played well. They looked like they were in a little bit of a rhythm. I thought they played a very patient game. So, good for them. Not so good for us.”

Tkachuk gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead at 11:45 of the second period, scoring blocker side from the top of the right circle.

“We had a pretty solid start, got the first goal which is always big. I don’t know if we took our foot off the gas, but we made some mistakes and weren’t as hard as we needed to be," Tkachuk said. "They played well. We will just come out here [on Tuesday] ready to go, look at it all over, figure out how we can be better."

Morgan Geekie tied it 1-1 at 12:52 of the second, getting to a rebound at the edge of the crease and shooting over a prone Bobrovsky. The play started following a turnover by Aaron Ekblad along the left boards.

“That’s just our mentality," Lohrei said. "Such a great group we have, great leaders. Just kind of rebounding and focused on the next shift and the next play. Pretty cool to see.”

Lohrei then gave Boston a 2-1 lead at 16:17. He was left all alone in the bottom of the left circle and roofed a shot over Bobrovsky's right shoulder.

“I liked our start, but I thought as we got through it we started to do some unusual things," Maurice said. “That’s why it is a never-ending learning process for you to continue to cement what it takes to be good. I didn’t care for our game. I think we can fix a big chunk of the things we did wrong.”

Brandon Carlo made it 3-1 at 19:39, taking a cross-ice pass from Charlie Coyle and scoring with a shot off the crossbar from the top of the right circle.

Carlo missed the morning skate and did not arrive at the arena until after 6 p.m. due to the birth of his second child, Crew.

“To see his face and just have a healthy wife and a healthy wife, I couldn’t be more happy,” Carlo said.

Brazeau pushed it to 4-1 at 7:13 of the third period. He got a step on Ekblad and beat Bobrovsky with his backhand on a breakaway.

Jake DeBrusk scored an empty-net goal at 16:38 for the 5-1 final.

"I think our confidence has gone to another level after pushing through the first round," Montgomery said. "I think that confidence makes you believe that you can. It’s a great place to be mentally. But like I said, we made a lot of mistakes, and if it’s not for Jeremy Swayman, that would have been a lot closer game and maybe they come out on top.”

NOTES: Boston has won all five games against Florida this season. ... Swayman became the eighth goaltender in NHL history to allow two goals or fewer in each of his first seven starts in a single postseason.