Mikko Rantanen has shown exactly why Dallas was willing to pay a hefty price to acquire him.

The race for the two wild-card playoff spots in the NHL’s Eastern Conference is full of surprises.

Sellers around the NHL from Philadelphia to San Jose, Mikko Rantanen and the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers were winners at the trade deadline.

Aleksander Barkov slipped through three Bruins defenders to score the go-ahead goal and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 16 shots to give the Florida Panthers a 3-2 victory over Boston and a 3-1 lead in their Eastern Conference semifinal series.

Vladimir Tarasenko and Carter Verhaeghe scored on the same Bruins double-minor, Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 14 shots and the Florida Panthers beat Boston 6-2 on Friday night and take a 2-1 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinal series.

Jeremy Swayman stopped 38 shots, Brandon Carlo scored a goal just a few hours after his wife gave birth to their son and the Boston Bruins topped the Florida Panthers 5-1 in Game 1 of their second-round playoff series Monday night.

Jeremy Swayman made 35 saves to lead the Boston Bruins to a 5-1 victory over the the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series.

Rookie Seth Jarvis scored twice and Antti Raanta finished with 34 saves to help the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Boston Bruins 5-1 to take a 3-2 lead in the first-round playoff series.

So much for the notion that goals are hard to come by in the playoffs.

Gabriel Landeskog tied the game with 36.5 seconds left in regulation and Cale Makar scored a power-play goal 3:01 into overtime as the Colorado Avalanche rallied past the Boston Bruins 4-3 for their 17th straight home victory.

David Pastrnak scored a hat trick, Tuukka Rask made 24 saves in his return from hip surgery and the Boston Bruins beat the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2.

Artemi Panarin scored the first of New York’s three third-period goals with 8:25 left and the Rangers beat the Boston Bruins 5-2 to give coach Gerard Gallant the best start in his first 20 games as coach.

Brock Nelson scored twice in another big second period by New York, Semyon Varlamov stopped 23 shots and the Islanders beat the Boston Bruins 6-2 in Game 6 on Wednesday night to advance to the Stanley Cup semifinals for the second straight year.

Mathew Barzal broke a tie late in the third period and the New York Islanders beat the Boston Bruins 4-1 on Saturday night to even the second-round playoff series at two games apiece.

Brad Marchand scored 3:36 into overtime and the Boston Bruins beat the New York Islanders 2-1 in Game 3 to take the lead in the second-round playoff series.

David Pastrnak and Charlie Coyle scored 34 seconds apart to break the game open early in the third period and give Boston to a 4-1 victory over the Washington Capitals.

Tom Wilson is good to go after leaving Washington's last game with an upper-body injury and eager to move on from a chaotic few days.

Washington's Tom Wilson has been fined $5,000 by the NHL for roughing New York Rangers forward Pavel Buchnevich.

The banged-up Boston Bruins are getting a boost for their late-season playoff push by acquiring forward Taylor Hall in a trade with the Buffalo Sabres.

Brad Marchand had two of his three goals and set up another in Boston’s five-goal second period.

(AP Photo/Nick Wass)WASHINGTON – Alex Ovechkin scored twice in the final seven minutes to continue his goal streak and rally the Washington Capitals to a 2-1 victory against the New York Rangers on Friday night for their seventh win in a row. Ovechkin tied it on a rebound with 6:42 left and put the Capitals ahead on a nearly identical play with 3:33 remaining. He has scored in five consecutive games and has seven goals in the past seven. I can’t be missing seven games. “There’s 20-something games left.

Boston Bruins' Brandon Carlo is helped off the ice after an injury in the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Washington Capitals, Friday, March 5, 2021, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)BOSTON – Boston Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo “is feeling better” but remains week-to-week from the head hit that earned Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson a seven-game suspension, coach Bruce Cassidy said Sunday. Cassidy called the hit “predatory” but declined to go into details on the suspension. ... I’ve kind of moved on and getting ready for New Jersey.”The Bruins return to the ice Sunday night against the Devils. “The guys are in a good place," Cassidy said, adding that he texted Carlo on Sunday morning.

(AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)BOSTON – Boston Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo was released from the hospital Saturday after spending the night following a head hit from Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson, who was suspended seven games. Wilson was suspended and will miss games for the next two weeks after a Zoom hearing to discuss the incident. This is his fifth suspension, and Wilson has been fined twice before in his NHL career. “To me, it was a hockey hit,” Capitals coach Peter Laviolette said after practice Saturday in Philadelphia. Carlo left Friday night's game against the Capitals after Wilson hit him late in the first period, smashing his head into the glass with his hands and stick.

Boston Bruins right wing David Pastrnak (88) celebrates his goal with the bench during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Washington Capitals, Monday, Feb. 1, 2021, in Washington. Buoyed by their top scorer's first two goals of the season and a big rookie's fight against one of the toughest players in hockey, the Bruins erased a three-goal deficit to beat the Washington Capitals 5-3 on Monday night. “In the box, I was like a little kid in there just jumping around when we scored,” Frederic said. The Capitals had front-row seats for Pastrnak's breakout performance in his second game after undergoing offseason hip surgery. Former Bruins captain Zdeno Chara scored in his second game against his old team.