Jakub Lauko gives his honest opinion about controversial penalty call in Bruins' Game 3 loss

By Anjum Rajonno

Modified May 11, 2024 06:00 GMT

Jakub Lauko shared his candid thoughts after the Bruins-Panthers Game 3 in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs at TD Garden. He expressed that he didn’t know what he was ‘supposed to do’ in the situation which got him a questionable penalty call for interference on Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky.

In the third period of the Bruins' 6-2 loss to the Florida Panthers, Lauko was penalized for interference on Bobrovsky. Many fans believed the call was unfair, especially after seeing that Lauko had been thrown off balance by Florida defenseman Aaron Ekblad, who went unpunished.

After the game, Jakub Lauko addressed the play that cost his team the penalty and eventually a Panthers’ goal.

"I was trying to get to the net and just ended up in the goalie," Lauko said. "I felt the defenseman was holding me and kind of pushing me inside. So, I don't know, like what am I supposed to do to avoid it?"

When asked if the situation was frustrating for the player and his team, Lauko replied:

“I mean obviously, you know, there are things that kind of like are hard to accept but you know that's part of the game and we need to play through it.”

While the penalty did lead up to a Panthers’ goal, Lauko managed to score shortly after from just out of the penalty box, recording his first playoff goal.

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Jakub Lauko opens up on last 20 minutes of desperation

In the same interview, Lauko mentioned that penalties have been detrimental to their momentum in previous games. He noted the need to avoid penalties in future games to preserve their form.

The Boston Bruins had better shots in the final third which initially seemed to fire a comeback. When asked about what sparked their comeback in the game, Lauko attributed it to desperation and the team's willingness to push despite being behind in the score.

“I mean we had nothing to lose at the point and we just went after it,” Lauko said (at 2:04 in the video below). “So you just need to be desperate like that for a whole 60 minutes.”

Reflecting on their gameplay, Lauko suggested the team needs to be more direct in their approach, focusing on tightening up their coordination on the ice. He mentioned that they may have been too reliant on lateral passes rather than direct forward movement.

Since Florida is currently in the lead at 2-1, the Bruins will be looking forward to leveling the series on Sunday when they host the Panthers again at TD Garden.