Boston lost for the second straight game. Matthews came up empty this time

The Boston Bruins aren’t exactly in dazzling form before the playoffs begin. This time at home, they fell to the Ottawa Senators and after a lackluster performance, they lost 1:3. Toronto was clearly defeated by the Panthers 2:5 and Auston Matthews came up empty-handed for the first time in 9 games.

Boston lost again

The Bruins are not in dazzling form just before the playoffs start. In the last two games they fell first to Washington and in today’s game they were not able to beat a weak Ottawa team at home. Moreover, in these two games, the Bruins produced only one goal.

Boston suffered its third defeat in the last four games and for a very long time both captain Brad Marchand and especially the Czech canon David Pastrňák have not been able to score, so before the last game he practically closed the door to surpass the 50-goal mark for the season.

That is, unless he scores a hat trick in the last game of the season, which is highly unlikely given the team’s recent results. The Senators decided their victory in the second period. The Bruins made up for it in the last period with a power play goal from Pavel Zacha, but that was it for the home team in this game.

Ottawa sealed the victory in the 59th minute when defenseman Artyom Zub scored his 5th goal of the season on a shorthanded goal. On Ottawa’s side, Czech forward Jiri Smejkal scored his first NHL goal in his 20th game in overseas competition.

Matthews came up empty this time

Toronto was successful in the first period, which it dominated 2:0. The rest of the game was a collapse and only the home team scored goals. They turned the game around to a final score of 5:2. Toronto suffered its third straight defeat and this time the league’s top scorer Auston Matthews also came up empty.

It was the first time in 9 games that he didn’t score. He remained at 69 goals for the season before the last game of the regular season. The Panthers clinched the Atlantic Division with this win over a strong team. Sam Reinhart was a major contributor to the Panthers turnaround.

He scored two goals and cemented his second place in the scorers’ table this season with 57 goals. Captain Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk each notched two assists. The Florida Panthers won their division for the fourth time in franchise history.

The Panthers won the Atlantic Division in the 2015-16 and 2021-22 seasons and the Southeast Division in the 2011-12 season. Sam Reinhart moved into 3rd place in club statistics with 57 goals on the season. Only the legendary Pavel Bure has produced a better performance in Panthers history. He scored 58 goals in the 1999-2000 season and one more goal a season later.

Source: NHL