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Toucher & Hardy

Do the Bruins already have the answers to the test when it comes to Sergei Bobrovsky?

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On Tuesday’s edition of Toucher and Hardy, the show reacted to Bruins 5-1 victory over the Florida Panthers to take a 1-0 lead in their best of seven series. Based on the outstanding performance by the Bruins, the guys questioned if the team already has the answers when to comes to trying to score on Florida’s goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky.

He’s Going to Look Even Worse…

Hardy: Credit to Lohrei for finding that spot pick in that spot. He had scored four goals all regular season.

Fred Toucher: I mean, that was a sniper goal. He put that in a puck-space, like the space of a puck. There was that opening and he was able to hit it. They obviously had a book on Bobrovsky, to go high on him. Every goal was high last night.

Hardy: Well, everybody got that book except for Pastrnak.

Fred Toucher: Pastrnak tried to go five-hole twice on a breakaway. Right.

Jon Wallach: There was one time where he was just too close. He couldn’t do much with it.

Fred Toucher: And then there was one time that wasn’t one of his two chances, where he was interfered with.

Hardy: Clearly. Yes. There’s like a hook that happened.

Jon Wallach: You look at last night’s game, they scored five goals, even throw away the empty netter. Four goals. Florida has a guy that is a Vezina Trophy finalist, and Florida has a guy who is a Selke trophy finalist, and they scored four goals on that team in their own building last night. Something’s going on here. This is a little strange. We all thought that game seven was a foregone conclusion that they’d lose and they won that game. Then they came out last night and couldn’t have looked better for long periods of time. They were the better team last night.

Fred Toucher: They were, and Bobrovsky looks like they have the book on him. Even if that gets into his head and he starts trying to take away the top of the net, that means he’s going to look even worse. I made the point that in between the first and second period, (Bob) Beers was talking about how even though it was 0-0, Bobrovsky looked like he was off. He looked like something was off with him.

May 6, 2024; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Boston Bruins right wing Justin Brazeau (55) scores against Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (72) during the third period in game one of the second round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Amerant Bank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports

Listen to The Full Segment Here!

Nick Gemelli, the wizard behind the scenes at Toucher & Hardy and a maestro on 985thesportshub.com, kicked off his radio escapade back in 2007 as an intern for Toucher & Rich on WBCN. After navigating through WFNX and the Boston Phoenix, he made a triumphant return to the show in 2016. Hailing from Marshfield but currently holding it down in Tewksbury, Nick’s radio journey is as dynamic as his Twitter feed. Nick writes about what happens on the Toucher & Hardy Show and Boston area lifestyle content.

CONNECT WITH TOUCHER & HARDY: linktr.ee/ToucherandHardyFor the latest updates, visit the show page on 985thesportshub.com. Follow 98.5 The Sports Hub on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Watch the show every morning on YouTube, and subscribe to stay up-to-date with all the best moments from Boston’s home for sports!

Bruins pour it on Panthers, take Game 1 by 5-1 final

The Boston Bruins officially have momentum.

Boston poured it on the Florida Panthers in Monday night’s Game 1, scoring three times in the second period and taking a 1-0 lead in their best-of-seven second-round playoff series by a 5-1 final. The Bruins got their first four goals from unlikely sources, forwards Morgan Geekie and Justin Brazeau, and defensemen Brandon Carlo and Mason Lohrei.

Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman, meanwhile, stopped 38-of-39 Florida shots (.974), making big saves early and often, and coming through in key moments late. The Panthers mostly struggled to solve Swayman, despite out-shooting the Bruins 39-29 and generating 16 high-danger scoring chances.

It’s become something of a routine for the Bruins to play tight games early on, and Game 1 against the Panthers was no different. The teams battled to a scoreless draw in the opening 20 minutes, with the Bruins holding a 14-9 edge in shots on goal at 5-on-5, and 8-2 in high-danger chances.

Both teams had golden scoring opportunities at the doorstep. Swayman extended his right pad to make a huge save on Florida’s Anton Lundell, less than a minute into the game.

David Pastrnak had a juicy chance of his own after intercepting a pass attempt in the Panthers’ end, but couldn’t quite finish his deke through goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky.

  • It was in the second period that the floodgates opened, especially for the Bruins. But the Panthers drew first blood, capitalizing on a Charlie McAvoy turnover on a breakout attempt. Panthers star winger Matthew Tkachuk shot around a screen and under Swayman’s blocker to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead.

  • The Panthers’ only lead of the game was short-lived. Continuing a trend from Game 7 against the Maple Leafs, the Bruins quickly answered. And it came off the stick of Geekie, who has been elevated to a top-six center role in recent games. The move finally paid off, as Geekie finished a rebound off the initial shot by linemate Pastrnak to tie it 1-1, just 1:07 after the Tkachuk goal.

  • Less than four minutes later, the Bruins struck again, with what turned out to technically be the game-winning goal. This time, the emerging Lohrei confidently handled a pass down low in the faceoff circle, and picked the short-side corner over Bobrovsky’s shoulder for his first career playoff goal.

  • With just 21 seconds left in the second period, the Bruins got their most heartwarming goal of the night. Carlo, who just welcomed the arrival of his second child Monday morning, arrived in Florida in time for the game and ended up firing home his second goal of the playoffs to make it 3-1 Bruins.

  • Not to be outdone by his teammates, Brazeau made one of the most impressive offensive plays of the game to put the B’s up three in the third period. The 6-foot-5 winger protected the puck as he cut in front of Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad and finished around Bobrovsky with his backhand to make it 4-1.

  • Jake DeBrusk added an empty net goal in the third period to officially put the game out of reach, but in reality, it already was. That’s mainly thanks to Swayman, who held off an early third-period flurry by the Panthers to earn his second straight win and fifth in seven starts so far. He may have locked up the Bruins’ starting goaltending job for a while.

    Game 2 between the Bruins and Panthers takes place Wednesday night, with puck drop at 7:30 p.m. ET.

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