Jeremy Swayman struggled to hold back the tears as he skated off the TD Garden ice for the final time this season.
Such is the expected emotional response whenever an NHL campaign is finally snuffed out — especially from a player who carried the torch for Boston through four weeks of playoff hockey.
In a game as unforgiving as this one, it’s par for the course that Boston’s best player all postseason was consumed by the short-side, rebound tally that Gustav Forsling snapped home with just 1:33 left on the clock.
But amid the finality of Friday’s 2-1 defeat at the hands of the Panthers setting in, Swayman’s despair was buoyed by the resolute cacophony of cheers raining down from the Garden rafters.