Bruins

5 reasons why the Bruins’ season came to an end vs. the Panthers

“You can’t win every game 2-1."

By Conor Ryan

May 18, 2024

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The 2023-24 Bruins overachieved in a season where a cap-crunched, cobbled-together roster pushed the Florida Panthers to six games in the second round of the playoffs.

But for as much as Boston’s bridge year exceeded plenty of initial expectations, the Bruins still left plenty on the table against a talented Panthers team — with several missteps hindering Boston from punching its ticket to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2019. 

Despite a stellar postseason from Jeremy Swayman (.933) and a few other individual players sprinkled throughout the depth chart, the Bruins’ centennial season came to a halt due to several critical flaws on Boston’s roster.

The offense dried up

Head coach Jim Montgomery said it best in the immediate aftermath of Friday’s loss. 

“You can’t win every game 2-1,” Boston’s bench boss flatly declared. 

The Bruins ranked 14th in the NHL in goals per game (3.21) during the regular season, with David Pastrnak serving as Boston’s offensive conduit on a roster filled with several short-term signings and lineup regulars playing in elevated roles.

But with Florida making a concerted effort to take Pastrnak out of the equation by clogging up shooting lanes and landing hits against him, it came as little surprise that Boston’s supporting cast couldn’t carry the rest of that scoring burden.

Boston averaged just 2.17 goals per game against the Panthers in this series, giving Swayman very little breathing room against a potent Panthers lineup littered with high-end talent. 

Beyond a five-goal salvo in Game 1 down at Amerant Bank Arena, the Bruins closed out the postseason with two goals scored or fewer in eight of their last nine postseason games. 

The Bruins had their chances throughout the series to put Sergei Bobrovsky on the ropes and extend their leads. In Game 2, Boston missed two open nets in the first period of play, while Danton Heinen, Charlie Coyle, and Jake DeBrusk each had breakaway bids in Game 4. 

Even on Friday night, Boston had multiple chances to build on its 1-0 lead but couldn’t put another puck past Bobrovsky. 

“We had the opportunities,” Montgomery said. “We had five odd-man rushes after two periods (in Game 6). In Game 4, we had several breakaways. Their goalie was good, and we didn’t beat him.”

The only Bruins to score multiple goals in this second-round series were Brandon Carlo, Morgan Geekie, and DeBrusk. Pastrnak, Coyle, and Pavel Zacha each finished with just one goal in the series, while Brad Marchand didn’t light the lamp in his four games played. 

Quality over quantity with shot selection

If there was ever a case to be made about the merits of putting pucks on net, look no further than Gustav Forsling’s winning tally with 1:33 to go in Game 6. 

Under Montgomery, the Bruins have remained steadfast in the offensive approach of opting for quality over quantity with their shot selection. It’s led to a boost as far as 5-on-5 production during regular season play over the past two seasons. 

But such a strategy does have some flaws, especially if it leads to extended stretches where your team isn’t putting an opposing goalie and defense under duress. Far too many times in this series, Boston failed to put pressure on Bobrovsky by turning down low-to-high plays and shots into traffic while searching for Grade-A looks. 

The Panthers held a significant edge in puck possession throughout this series, with Florida posting a 311-216 lead in shot attempts during 5-on-5 play. But the Bruins actually held a 60-41 advantage in terms of high-danger scoring chances. 

That would seemingly be a winning formula for Montgomery when it comes to generating quality chances. But that approach won’t lead to impressive returns if your roster doesn’t have the finishing talent across the lineup to cash in on those looks. 

Another top-six winger and/or center could have made a world of a difference in this series for Boston when it comes to putting these scoring bids into the back of the net.

“If you’re only getting 18 or 20 shots on goal, the percentages play a role there,” Zacha said. “You can’t expect to score four or five goals in a game when you have 18 shots. When you have 30 or 40 like they did in a lot of games, it’s a bigger chance you’ll score more and create more. It kind of wears you down in the defensive zone a lot.”

Special-teams woes

After relying on special teams to dispatch the Maple Leafs in the opening round, Boston’s power play sputtered out against the Panthers. 

The Bruins lit the lamp six times on the man advantage against Toronto, but only cashed in with one power-play goal over 16 opportunities against the Panthers.

By the end of this series, Boston’s power play felt like an outright detriment — with a first-period opportunity for the Bruins sapping momentum in Game 6 after Boston opened the game with four straight shots on goal. 

Over the 26:19 of power-play reps that the Bruins logged against Florida, Boston only landed 14 shots on goal. The Bruins desperately need to add another shooting threat to their man advantage this offseason, while Charlie McAvoy’s standing as the team’s power-play QB could be threatened with the dynamic Mason Lohrei waiting in the wings. 

Boston’s PK clamped down by the end of this series, but it still allowed six goals to the Panthers — with Florida cashing in on four of its six power-play bids in Game 3.

Boston and Florida both finished this series with 12 goals at even-strength play, but the Panthers held a 7-1 edge in special-teams goals. Not going to win most series with such a sizable discrepancy.  

Pivots put in elevated roles 

The Bruins reworked pivot pipeline did a commendable job of holding down the fort during the regular season — with Coyle, Zacha, and Geekie all exceeding expectations in the first season without Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci.

But this postseason further validated that the Bruins are still in desperate need of a proven, top-six center who can both drive play and push other talented players into more suitable roles further down Boston’s depth chart. 

Despite Zacha’s Game 6 goal, the 27-year-old forward only has one postseason tally in 25 career games — and closed out the year with six points over 13 playoff matchups. Coyle finished with five points (one goal, four assists), while Geekie ended this run as Boston’s No. 1 center between Pastrnak and DeBrusk.

The Bruins have three good players in Zacha, Coyle, and Geekie. But all three shouldn’t be splitting reps as Boston’s top-six centers — with Geekie better suited on the third line and Zacha a stronger option on the wing next to a more proven pivot. 

Landing an established center this offseason would create a positive domino effect across Boston’s depth chart. 

Home-ice disadvantage

Boston’s latest postseason exit at the hands of the Panthers followed a similar script as last season, especially when it came to the Bruins’ struggles at times with countering Florida’s relentless forecheck. 

Another carry-over from last postseason? Boston’s inability to capitalize on home ice.

Over the last two playoff runs, the Bruins won a grand total of three games on Causeway Street. The Panthers over that same stretch? Six wins at TD Garden.

Over three games on home ice this series, the Bruins went 0-3, averaged 19.3 shots per game and were outscored, 11-5.