SUNRISE, Fla. _ In the hours before Jared McCann lifted the Florida Panthers to a 3-2 win over the Boston Bruins with a third-period goal on Thursday night, the Florida Panthers did not resemble a group of hockey players entering a must-win game in the 80th contest of the season.
Panthers coach Bob Boughner stressed that his team needed to stay loose to keep their playoff hopes alive; any tenseness would lead to tightness and waterfall into a potentially season-ending loss. During morning skate, Colton Sceviour playfully dragged Mike Matheson to the ice. In warmups, Mark Pysyk clutched to an unwilling MacKenzie Weegar from behind.
The Panthers have preached that seemingly every game over the past two months was a must-win game. During a high-flying homestand, the games gained importance. As the games ticked away, each passing one became either a chance capitalized on or an opportunity lost.
But despite Florida's rhetoric since the All-Star break, no game was truly a must-win until Thursday night.
The Panthers entered the day four points behind Philadelphia for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. For the second straight game, they could be eliminated from playoff contention. A loss in regulation plus a point from Philadelphia torpedoed any hopes. An overtime loss plus a Philadelphia win and a New Jersey loss did the same.
Before the Panthers finished against Boston, New Jersey and Philadelphia each won. A loss would have ended any Stanley Cup dreams.
McCann wouldn't let it.
With 5:37 remaining in the third period, McCann deflected a Mike Matheson shot from the point past Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask, extending the Panthers' playoff hopes for at least two more days. McCann did so while filling in for an injured Aleksander Barkov, who left the game with 6:51 after a massive hit along the boards.
Barkov hunched over on the bench and retreated to the dressing room with his helmet in hand.
In order to make the playoffs, the Panthers must win their final two games against Buffalo and at Boston, plus have Philadelphia lose Saturday afternoon at home to the Rangers.
McCann's goal capped an entertaining game between Boston and Florida, the teams' third of the final month of the regular season. The Panthers jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the game's first 10 minutes behind goals from Barkov and Frank Vatrano.
Barkov's came on a gorgeous feed from Evgenii Dadonov to the left of the Boston goalline. Dadonov whizzed a puck through the crease past Rask and onto the waiting stick of Barkov. The tap in goal was Barkov's 100th career goal in the NHL.
It was also just his second goal in the last 17 games, a slump that helped contribute to Florida's dimming playoff hopes.
Vatrano scored after forcing a turnover behind the Bruins net and tucking a shot past Rask. For Vatrano, the goal was a sweet one. He spent all of his career with the organization prior to being traded to Florida in February for a third-round pick.
This season, Vatrano languished mostly as a healthy scratch in Boston and, when he did crack the lineup, received limited playing time on the fourth line. In 25 games for the Bruins, he only had two goals. In two games against them, he had one.
Bruins forward Ryan Donato cut the lead to one with a power-play goal with 4:41 remaining in the first period after Matheson was whistled for a holding penalty in the neutral zone.
Danton Heinen tied the game at two after another Matheson miscue. After a Matheson turnover in the defensive zone, Heinen beat Panthers goaltender Roberto Luongo. Luongo was playing in his 1,000th career NHL game, becoming just the third goalie in league history to do so.
