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Archives for May 17, 2024

Panthers Send Bruins to Early Summer

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BOSTON – Florida’s Gustav Forsling’s rebound goal with 1:33 left in regulation lifted the visiting Panthers to a 2-1, series-clinching win over the host Bruins in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinals on Friday.

Anton Lundell had his initial shot stopped by Boston goaltender Jeremy Swayman (26 saves), but from the left side Forsling slipped the loose puck inside the near post for the deciding goal.

Lundell finished with a goal and an assist after scoring the tying tally at 12:44 of the second, helping the Panthers to their sixth straight playoff win at TD Garden.

Pavel Zacha scored Boston’s lone goal.

Sergei Bobrovsky made 22 saves for Florida, including nine in the third period.

Bruins captain Brad Marchand returned to the lineup following a two-game absence due to an upper-body injury.

After the Bruins were unable to clear a shot blocked by Jake DeBrusk, Lundell picked up a loose puck in the slot and unleashed a dart to beat Swayman and tie the game at 12:44 of the middle frame.

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A rollercoaster first period saw the Bruins post the first four shots on goal before a span of 14:11 without one, but Zacha buried the opening goal — the first of his 25-game playoff career — with 52.8 seconds left to make it 1-0.

DeBrusk continued his strong playmaking run with a dish off the neutral zone wall to spring Zacha for the breakaway, which he brought to his backhand and slipped under the crossbar.

Bobrovsky came up with several key saves in the second period that allowed his Panthers to tie the game, including denying Justin Brazeau’s one-timer on the same shift as Lundell’s goal.

Florida looked to take a 2-1 lead in the opening minute of the third. Brandon Montour took a slapper from the right point that Swayman initially thought beat him through the five-hole, but the Boston netminder had the puck behind his pads after it clanked off the post.

Bobrovsky made another important stop eight minutes into the final frame, holding both posts to keep out Charlie McAvoy’s driving attempt to the crease.

Neither team could cash in on a power-play attempt late in the third period, which included 22 overlapping seconds of 4-on-4.

–Field Level Media

Seize the Grey Takes Preakness

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BALTIMORE – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Seize the Grey led gate to wire, holding off a charge from Mystik Dan to capture the 149th Preakness Stakes on Saturday at Pimlico Race Course.

Over a muddy track, Seize the Grey broke swiftly under jockey Jaime Torres and led the field out to sensible fractions. Seeking to replicate the ride that led Mystik Dan to the Kentucky Derby two weeks earlier, jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. had his mount in an early ground-saving position stalking the early pace with Imagination to the outside.

When the field hit the far turn, Seize the Grey moved on the rail, forcing Mystik Dan to his outside. Now having the ground saving position, Seize the Gray opened up a gap, which Mystik Dan failed to close at the head of the stretch. The winning time for the 1 3/16-mile race was 1:56.82.

Mystik Dan finished 2 1/4 lengths back of Seize the Gray. His loss extends the current Triple Crown drought to six years. Catching Freedom finished third.

Seize the Grey’s win made the 88-year-old D. Wayne Lucas the oldest trainer in history to win a Triple Crown race. Conversely, Torres won in his first Triple Crown start.

–Field Level Media

Red Sox Face Cards for 3-Game Set

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ST. LOUIS – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – After losing three of their past four games at home, the Boston Red Sox will try to regroup on their six-game road swing. That journey begins when they open a three-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday night.

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The Red Sox are coming off a 7-5 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday night in one their best offensive games of the month. Jarren Duran (3-for-5, homer, two doubles, two runs) and Rafael Devers (2-for-4, homer, two runs) led the attack. Devers has hit a homer in consecutive games while Duran is 5-for-8 with four doubles and three runs in his past two outings.

But since May 2, the Red Sox have scored three or fewer runs nine times. They went 4-9 during that period to fall further off the pace in the American League East.

The Red Sox will open the series with starting pitcher Brayan Bello (4-1, 3.13 ERA), who came off the 15-day injured list to earn a 3-2 victory over the Washington Nationals in his most recent start. He allowed those two runs on four hits over five innings while striking out one and walking two.

“For his first one coming out of the IL? Good,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “Gave us five, two runs. So now he’ll be ready for the next one.”

Right lat tightness had knocked Bello out of the starting rotation for a few turns.

“Feels good to be back, feels good to help the team win and also it feels good that a lot of good things are happening for us right now,” Bello told reporters through the team interpreter. “A lot of guys are coming back, so it feels really nice.”

This will be his first career appearance against the Cardinals, who have lost 10 of their past 14 games.

St. Louis will counter with starting pitcher Kyle Gibson (2-2, 3.67). He received a pair of no-decisions over his past two starts, allowing five runs (four earned) on 10 hits in 11 innings.

Gibson struck out 11 and walked six in those games. He didn’t receive much in terms of run support, which has been a persistent problem for St. Louis this season.

During their 7-2 loss to the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday, the Cardinals were 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position. They went 11-for-73 while posting a 3-4 record on their trip against the Milwaukee Brewers and Angels.

Still, St. Louis manager Oliver Marmol said he believes his team is in a better place ahead of this Boston series after taking two of three from the Angels.

“Road trip started in a bad way,” Marmol said Wednesday in Anaheim Calif. “Look at how those first games, especially that second game in Milwaukee (an 11-2 loss last Friday). They weren’t good at all. The third game (a 5-3 loss last Saturday) I actually felt like we got beat. We didn’t beat ourselves. And that was the turning point for how the rest of the series went in Milwaukee and how the first two games went here. Feel good going back home. Really do.

“We’re in a much better spot. All areas of the game look like they’re supposed to right now. The offense is starting to click. And that’s what we’ve been missing. It feels right.”

Gibson is 4-4 with a 3.41 ERA in 10 career starts against the Red Sox.

–Field Level Media