Sports conspiracy theorists were pointing to their televisions in “I knew it” fashion during the NHL playoff fixture between the Boston Bruins and Florida Panthers on Sunday night.
The Panthers scored a late equalizer, stunning the night’s opposition as they tied things up 3-3 with just over a minute to go. TNT was a bit premature in its announcement, with the broadcasters’ goal graphic coming before the actual goal.
The incident set off the “rigged” conversation on social media, some of which you could see right below:
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Of course, more than likely someone at the network ended up hitting the button before time or simply hit the wrong button as there’s normally a 30-second delay between the game and the broadcast. But, hey, whatever floats it.
The game ended up in overtime, with the Panthers winning 4-3 to probably put the Bruins level with the Milwaukee Bucks when it comes to postseason failures after remarkable regular seasons in 2023.
Boston failed to take advantage of their registering of the greatest offseason in league history, so the Panthers will be the ones facing the Toronto Maple Leafs in the second round. Game 1 is set for Tuesday night.
The Bruins came back to take a 3-2 lead after going 2-0 but the last 88 seconds of regulation time proved decisive as they would concede another before the final whistle and subsequently lose in overtime.
