Crafting a fool-proof game plan to tame the Panthers? It’s an undertaking as fruitless as trying to duck traffic on I-93 South at 4:59 p.m.
Matthew Tkachuk draws most of the headlines as Florida’s pugnacious poster boy. But Paul Maurice’s team boasts many talented skaters capable of tilting the ice in the Panthers’ favor.
Aleksander Barkov might be the best two-way centerman in the post-Bergeron era, while Sam Reinhart lit the lamp 57 times in 2023-24. Sergei Bobrovsky is a Vezina Trophy finalist; Brandon Montour is one of the most potent playmaking defensemen in the league (106 points in his last 146 games); and Aaron Ekblad and Gustav Forsling are anchoring the NHL’s top-ranked defense (2.41 goals against per game).
Advertisement
Amid that stacked depth chart, Sam Bennett can easily fly under the radar. The 27-year-old pivot isn’t the largest skater on Florida’s roster, nor has he ever surpassed the 50-point threshold.
But after Florida’s convincing 6-2 win over the Bruins on Friday night, Maurice offered high praise for Bennett and his role in Florida’s ascension as a playoff juggernaut.
“His style, I would say that it’s maybe the prototypical kind of Florida Panther identity — the way we’re either viewed or the way we like to play,” Maurice said. “He might embody that.”
The Bruins learned that the hard way in Game 3.
On a night when a galvanized Bruins team expected to get a rise from David Pastrnak’s spirited Game 2 scrap with Tkachuk, it was the Panthers who received the largest lift with Bennett back in the lineup. His return further strengthens a roster that already seems to have a sound plan in place to bounce Boston from the playoffs.
“It was nice to get back out there,” said Bennett, who was sidelined for five games after suffering an upper-body injury in the first-round series. “I think it’s important to not dip your toe in. I want to be out there and play full speed and that’s kind of my game.”
Advertisement
Much like last postseason, the Bruins have struggled to counter the Panthers’ relentless forechecking. Bennett’s insertion into the lineup is akin to adding a heat-seeking missile in front of a pack of hungry wolves.
While most Bruins fans were expecting fisticuffs and fireworks after Wednesday’s fracas in South Florida, Bennett set the tone early for his team — dropping Brad Marchand and Pastrnak with a pair of heavy hits.
Bennett’s reverse hit on Marchand brought the Bruins’ captain to the ice, and Marchand was later ruled out in the third period because of an upper-body injury.
The Bruins have announced Brad Marchand is unlikely to return to the game with an upper body injury.
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) May 11, 2024
Marchand played the rest of the first and second after taking this hit from Bennett pic.twitter.com/kwx3LfOGP8
Marchand is “day to day,” according to coach Jim Montgomery, who took exception to what appeared to be a punch from Bennett just before doling out his reverse hit on Marchand.
“There’s a history there with Bennett. Good, hard player,” Montgomery said Saturday morning. “But there’s clearly evidence of what went on.”
Bennett landed seven hits in 12:43 of ice time on Friday, and Florida’s incessant pressure in Boston’s zone put the Bruins’ transition in neutral. Boston landed just 17 shots on goal.
“We’ve got guys that are physical, but I don’t think anybody is as physical as Benny,” Tkachuk said. “He’s not the biggest guy, but he plays so big. So he definitely changed our team, for sure.”
Advertisement
Beyond landing welts against the Bruins, Bennett also generated the primary assist on Vladimir Tarasenko’s power-play snipe in the second period. The Panthers have scored nine goals against Jeremy Swayman in the last six periods — with the Bruins’ D-zone turnovers and lapses hampering their man between the pipes.
“He’s an elite goalie and you’ve got to try to take his eyes away,” Evan Rodrigues said. “You like to say that about every goalie in the league, but the way he’s been playing — you try to focus on it a little bit more.”
The Bruins already have their hands full trying to slow down one of the best top-six units in the league. But Bennett’s return bumps Anton Lundell back to the third line next to Rodrigues and Eetu Luostarinen — creating another matchup headache for Montgomery.
“What he does for the rest of our lineup — that is equally as important,” Maurice said. “Because I think the Lundell line was the best line. They were fantastic tonight. It kind of puts our pieces in place.”
Solving the Panthers’ bruising approach already was going to be a daunting undertaking for the Bruins. Bennett’s return from injury — much as it did last spring — makes it even harder.
Get the ice bags ready.
Conor Ryan can be reached at conor.ryan@globe.com.