Bruins bobble chance to be a top seed
The Bruins didn’t seem like the team with the most to gain until it was too late Sunday night.
Florida goalie Roberto Luongo came off the bench to shut down host Boston in the third period, and the Panthers dashed the Bruins’ hopes of getting the top seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs with a 4-2 win.
The Bruins trailed Tampa Bay by a point heading into the regular-season finale but couldn’t top a Florida team that was eliminated from postseason contention Saturday.
“You would have hoped the urgency would have been there with an opportunity to win the division,” Boston forward David Backes said. “We had it in the third, but needed it right from the get-go.”
The Bruins — whose final game with Florida was moved from Jan. 4 because of a snowstorm — will host Toronto in the first round, beginning Thursday night. The Leafs were 3-1 against the Bruins in the regular season.
Florida goalie James Reimer left in the third with an injury, and Luongo stopped eight shots over the last 8:07. The two combined to make 41 saves.
Henrik Borgstrom, Frank Vatrano, Maxim Mamin and Evgenii Dadonov scored for Florida.
David Pastrnak and Backes had a goal each for Boston, with Pastrnak cutting it to 3-2 shortly before Reimer was hurt. Tuukka Rask made 22 saves.
“We didn’t deserve to win and that’s the reality,” Rask said. “I think it’s mental, just not being sharp enough at the drop of the puck.”
After beating the Bruins for the second time in three games, Florida is headed home despite a 25-8-2 run to end the season, including winning its last five.
“It’s disappointing. We were really hoping that we’d get a little help from some other teams and maybe get in,” Florida forward Vincent Trocheck said. “I think there’s a lot of teams that didn’t want to play us if we did make it in.”
The second season: The Sharks will open their Western Conference first-round playoff series in Anaheim on Thursday night. After Game 2 in Anaheim on Saturday, the best-of-seven series will switch to SAP Center for Games 3 and 4 next Monday and April 18.
Other first-round series beginning Wednesday are Los Angeles-Vegas, Philadelphia Pittsburgh and Minnesota Winnipeg.
San Jose won three of four meetings with Anaheim this season, with three of the games going to a shootout.
“We’ve played them a number of times,” Anaheim head coach Randy Carlyle told NHL.com. “They’re not a flashy team by any means, but they’ve got a lot of depth through their lineup. They play a high-tempo game. They’re a good hockey club.”
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