From a historic run to a historic disappointment.

There’s really no other way to describe in totality what the Boston Bruins just did. They were 59 seconds away from eliminating the scrappy Florida Panthers in Game 7 on Sunday night at TD Garden. But Brandon Montour’s late tying goal, then Carter Verhaghe’s heartbreaker in overtime, transformed this series from “Whew, that was close” to “Wow, this blows,” within about 36 minutes of real time.

That half-hour felt like a month, and the coming months may feel like years, as the Bruins watch the rest of the playoffs from home knowing they blew maybe the best chance they’ll ever have to win the Stanley Cup. And frankly, the players and coaches have no one to blame but themselves.

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  Apr 30, 2023; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Florida Panthers defenseman Brandon Montour (62) is called for a roughing penalty on Boston Bruins right wing David Pastrnak (88) during the second period in game seven of the first round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports

• Credit is due to the Panthers, who often gave the Bruins problems with their size, speed, and forechecking up front. It won them the series in Game 7, as Matthew Tkachuk easily won the race to the puck behind the net, then wrestled it away from Brandon Carlo and Patrice Bergeron.

  Meanwhile, everyone lost sight of Carter Verhaeghe as he floated to open ice. Sam Bennett had a clean passing lane, Verhaeghe had all the time and space in the world to find his shot, and he found a hole over the shoulder of Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman. The opportunistic Panthers made the Bruins pay for their leaky play in their own end throughout the series, and the Game 7 overtime winner was the cherry on top for them.

• WHAT A WAY TO WIN THIS SERIES. THE PANTHERS GET IT DONE 🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/AGem1az2BM

  — B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) May 1, 2023

• But beyond the Panthers forecheck making it hard on the Bruins in their own end, most of the biggest mistakes in the series were self-inflicted. Turnovers of the egregious, inexcusable kind. Even when the Bruins won, it was rarely clean in the defensive zone.

  Goaltender Linus Ullmark’s turnover at the end of Game 5, which sparked the Panthers’ three-game comeback to win the series after going down 3-1, was emblematic of a Bruins team that despite superior depth, talent, and balance, just couldn’t get out of its own way.

  The Bruins committed 81 total giveaways in the series, compared to 71 for the Panthers. But the takeaway disparity was even greater: just 36 for Boston, compared to 61 for Florida.

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  Apr 30, 2023; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Florida Panthers center Sam Bennett (9) controls the puck in front of Boston Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman (1) while defenseman Charlie McAvoy (73) defends during the second period in game seven of the first round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports

• “I mean our wall play wasn’t good enough,” head coach Jim Montgomery said after the game. “Give them credit, they were also aggressive and caused a lot of extra opportunities in the offensive zone.”

  When you get out-worked for pucks along the boards, and also make bad decisions when you do have the puck, it’s going to be hard to score at all, let alone win a game, let alone win a Stanley Cup Playoff series. The games tighten up and become more of a grind this time of year, even if both teams want to move the puck quickly and play with pace, as the Bruins and Panthers both did.

  “It’s a game of inches,” Brad Marchand said after the game. “I had the game on my stick in Game 5, with a couple of seconds left. Didn’t capitalize and they capitalized on their inches. They dug down one more than we did, one more battle, and that’s it.”

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  BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – APRIL 30: Aaron Ekblad #5 of the Florida Panthers defends Dmitry Orlov #81 of the Boston Bruins during the first period in Game Seven of the First Round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs at TD Garden on April 30, 2023 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

• Ultimately, the Panthers proved to be the better, more consistent team in those all-important board battles, and even in their defensive breakouts. It was a stunning breakdown by a Bruins defense that allowed the fewest goals in the league in the regular season, loaded up at the trade deadline with the addition of Dmitry Orlov, and even cleaned up their D-zone play in Games 3 and 4 down in Florida.

  Their struggles just to clear the puck out of their own zone bit them on the Panthers’ final three goals of the game. It was only fitting that if they were to lose, it would be because of their most glaring problem, one that was never fully solved.

  “On the tying goal, we didn’t get the puck out, we block a shot and it bounced right to them, gets in the net, and it’s a tie game,” said David Pastrnak. “Obviously, a lot of emotions running, so that one definitely hurt.”

• HOLD EVERYTHING. THE PANTHERS HAVE TIED IT 😱 pic.twitter.com/wZdsCO2X9A

  — B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) May 1, 2023

• Despite a disappointing level of play from the guys on the ice, Montgomery is not without blame in this. The head coach mixed up his forward lines and defense after a sloppy Game 2, which was understandable. But Montgomery mixed up his lines again before Game 5, with the Bruins up 3-1 in the series, a shake-up that felt superfluous at the time and certainly does now.

  “I think the only thing I can look at right now and say I would have done different is starting Game 5, I would have had [Patrice] Bergeron and [Brad] Marchand together, it took me eight minutes to get to there,” Montgomery said. “Don’t know if it makes a difference, but you know, that’s the only thing that I look at right now that I would change.

  “I don’t have very much regret with anything that we did, that’s why I said I’d have to analyze more on this series and have a better, more intelligent answer about where we went wrong.”

• 

  BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – APRIL 30: Patrice Bergeron #37 of the Boston Bruins hugs Brad Marchand #63 before exiting the ice after Florida Panthers defeat the Bruins 4-3 in overtime of Game Seven of the First Round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs at TD Garden on April 30, 2023 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

• Montgomery is also facing scrutiny for the way he handled his goaltending situation. He basically ran Ullmark into the ground, as the Vezina favorite played worse as the series went along while he battled through an undisclosed injury. It forced Swayman into the net for Game 7 after he hadn’t started a game in 17 days.

  But Swayman is still pretty far down the list of whom to blame. Worse for Montgomery is his answer after the game, when he was asked about his decision to go to Swayman and deferred to goaltending coach Bob Essensa.

  “We just thought [Swayman] was going to give us the best chance tonight,” Montgomery said. “You’d have to ask goalie Bob [Essensa] a little more in detail about that, but we all thought that he was going to give us the best opportunity tonight.”

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  SUNRISE, FL – APRIL 21: Head coach Jim Montgomery of the Boston Bruins looks on during third period action against the Florida Panthers in Game Three of the First Round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs at the FLA Live Arena on April 21, 2023 in Sunrise, Florida. (Photo by Joel Auerbach/Getty Images)

• There will be plenty of blame pie to pass around in the coming days, as we sift through the rubble of the Bruins’ first-round collapse. It especially stings that former head coach Bruce Cassidy advanced to the second round with his new team in Las Vegas. Even the Toronto Maple Leafs made it to the next round.

  Toronto will be facing a feisty Florida team, in what should be a high-octane series, instead of getting what could’ve been their worst nightmare. This year, the real nightmare came for Boston.

  And it’s largely their own fault.

  Click here for complete Boston Bruins coverage at 985TheSportsHub.com.

  Matt Dolloff is a writer and podcaster for 985TheSportsHub.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group, or any subsidiaries. Have a news tip, question, or comment for Matt? Yell at him on Twitter @mattdolloff and follow him on Instagram @realmattdolloff. Check out all of Matt’s content here.

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