SUNRISE, Fla. — The Florida Panthers thrived all season behind a gritty, suffocating defense.

After a one-game anomaly in their second-round series opener against the Boston Bruins on Monday, that strong defense returned on Wednesday as Florida cruised to a 6-1 win over Boston to even the best-of-7 series.

The Panthers held Boston to just 16 shots on goal — six apiece in the first and second periods and just four in the third period, a final frame that got chippy and feisty and featured a dozen players receiving game misconducts.

It was a fitting return to form for the team that allowed the third-fewest shots on goal per game in the regular season (27.8).

And that stellar defense led to the Panthers executing on the offensive end as well. After getting just one goal on 39 shots in Game 1 against Jeremy Swayman and after falling behind 1-0 in Game 2, the Panthers got two goals from Aleksander Barkov and one apiece from Steven Lorentz, Gustav Forsling, Eetu Luostarinen and Brandon Montour on Wednesday.

Lorentz tied the game at 1-1 just 1:56 into the second period by re-directing a Montour shot from the point.

Barkov gave Florida the lead when he corralled a rebound from a Sam Reinhart shot and buried the loose puck on a nearly open net.

Forsling then put Florida up 3-1 when he blasted a shot from the point with 1.3 seconds left in the period.

When Luostarinen scored 1:28 into the third period on a feed from Barkov, Boston pulled Swayman for Linus Ullmark.

Florida capped scoring with a Barkov power-play goal and Montour short-handed goal.

Overall, Barkov (two goals, two assists) and Reinhart (four assists) had four points apiece. Montour (one goal, two assists) had three.

It was the all-around dominant effort the Panthers needed to level the series.

Now, they need to carry the momentum.

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