Disputed tying goal helps Panthers beat Bruins 3-2 and take 3-1 lead in East semifinal series

BOSTON (AP) — One game after Sam Bennett punched Brad Marchand out of the playoffs, the Panthers forward sent the rest of the Bruins to the brink of elimination with an equally controversial shove to Charlie Coyle’s back.

Already drawing boos in the Garden because of a hit on Marchand that the Bruins are calling a sucker punch, Bennett scored the game-tying goal in Game 4 on Sunday night after sending Coyle tumbling into Boston goalie Jeremy Swayman.

The goal was upheld by the NHL replay center in Toronto, and Aleksander Barkov scored the game-winner four minutes later to lead Florida to a 3-2 victory and a 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinal series.

“I’m putting that puck in before Swayman’s going to be able to get over there, whether Coyle was on him or not. So, I think that’s the reason why it stood,” Bennett said. “And that’s how I saw it, as well.”

A year after Florida knocked out the record-setting Bruins in the first round on its way to the Stanley Cup Final, the Panthers won their third straight to send Boston one game from elimination. Florida rallied from a two-goal deficit and took the lead with 13 minutes left when Barkov slipped through three Bruins defenders for the tiebreaking goal.

“It’s so much fun to watch Barky play hockey,” Bennett said. “For anyone else, that’s a career highlight goal. And for him, it’s just another day in the office. Pretty remarkable what he can do.”

Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 16 shots and Anton Lundell also scored for Florida, which can advance to the Eastern Conference finals with a victory in Game 5 at home on Tuesday night.

Playing without Marchand, their captain and leading scorer in the postseason, Boston jumped to a 2-0 lead with goals from David Pastrnak and Brandon Carlo. Swayman made 38 saves, but he was covered up by Coyle when Bennett tied the game 3:41 into the third period.

“The fact is that my own player was pushed into me by theirs and I couldn’t play my position,” Swayman said.

According to NHL Rule 69.1, “If a defending player has been pushed, shoved, or fouled by an attacking player so as to cause the defending player to come into contact with his own goalkeeper, such contact shall be deemed contact initiated by the attacking player for purposes of this rule, and if necessary a penalty assessed to the attacking player and if a goal is scored it would be disallowed.”

Bruins coach Jim…