Record-setting Bruins ousted in NHL first round as Panthers complete c…

The Boston Bruins’ record-setting 2022-23 campaign came to a shocking end Sunday night with a 4-3 overtime loss to the Florida Panthers in Game 7 of their first-round Stanley Cup playoff series.

Boston rewrote the NHL record book this year in posting new all-time marks for wins (65) and points (135). But under the bright lights of the playoffs, the Bruins crumbled, blowing a 3-1 series lead to a Panthers team that finished 43 points behind them in the standings.

The Panthers pulled goalie Sergei Bobrovsky and tied the game 3-3 with one minute to go in regulation before Carter Verhaeghe provided the final dagger in overtime.

NHL PLAYOFFS: Scores, matchups and schedules for first-round series

Bruins coach Jim Montgomery made a bold decision by opting to start goalie Jeremy Swayman in Game 7 in place of likely Vezina Trophy winner Linus Ullmark, who started the first six games of the series. Ullmark, 29, led the league in wins (40-6-1 record), save percentage (.938) and goals-against average (1.89) in the regular season, but his uneven play in the postseason played a major part in the Bruins’ undoing. His misplay while handling the puck in Game 5 directly led to Matthew Tkachuk’s overtime winner, and Ullmark yielded six goals in the Panthers’ 7-5 Game 6 win.

The move to Swayman – who had an impressive season in his own right (24-6-4 record, .920 save percentage) – was a mixed bag. Brandon Montour sneaked a puck through Swayman’s five-hole on the backhand to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead in the first period, and Florida jumped out to a 2-0 advantage early in the second period after a nifty pass set up Sam Reinhart for a rip.

Boston cut the deficit to 2-1 with a power-play goal in the second period and then tied things up with another power-play goal early in the third. The Bruins took a 3-2 lead a few minutes later when star David Pastrnak buried a bad rebound by Bobrovsky. But…