The Bruins, determined to capitalize on their recent momentum and defend their home ice on Tuesday, March 11th, executed a focused game plan against the Florida Panthers, effectively ending the Panthers’ six-game win streak while securing their own second consecutive victory. The game carried the added intrigue of being the Bruins’ first contest against their former captain, Brad Marchand, who recently signed with Florida, though he has yet to suit up for his new team. David Pastrnak, Mason Lohrei, and Pavel Zacha each found the back of the net for Boston to secure this victory. The Bruins head to Ottawa on Thursday to take on the Senators in hopes of extending their win streak to three, while the Panthers continue their road trip when they take on the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Boston Bruins Lineup:
Geekie – Zacha – Pastrnak
Khusnutdinov – Lindholm – Lauko
Koepke – Mittelstadt – Lettieri
Beecher – Brown – Kastelic
Zadorov – Jokiharju
Lohrei – Peeke
Wotherspoon – Mitchell
Swayman
Korpisalo
Florida Panthers Lineup:
Verhaeghe – Barkov – Reinhart
Samoskevich – Bennett – Rodrigues
Luostarinen – Lindell – Boqvist
Greer – Sturm – Nosek
Forsling – Jones
Mikkola – Kulikov
Balinskis – Schmidt
Bobrovsky
Vanecek
Early into the opening frame, Dmitry Kulikov gave the Panthers the 1-0 lead with his fourth goal of the season when Sam Bennett won a face-off directly back to him in the left circle, then went to put a one-timer past Jeremy Swayman from the point at 15:33.
After a scoreless second period, Mackie Samoskevich gave Florida a 2-0 lead for his 12th of the season at 15:11 off a pass from Seth Jones on a 5-on-3 power play. He buried a one-timer from the left circle after some passing back and forth before Jones sent it back to Samoskevich for the second Panthers tally. David Pastrnak ended Sergei Bobrovsky’s shutout when he put home a power-play goal to cut it to 2-1. He took a centering pass while cutting across the crease from Casey Mittelstadt after Pastrnak sent the puck to Henri Jokiharju, who lost control of it and it bounced out to Mittelstadt for Pastrnak to then roof a shot over Bobrovsky’s left leg for his 33rd goal of the season at 11:04. After some fighting for control over the puck, Mason Lohrei intercepted Dmitry Kulikov’s clearing pass from in the high slot, shooting glove side on Bobrovsky to tie it up to 2-2 for his fifth goal of the season with 6:10 on the clock in the third. Pavel Zacha struck with 3:17 remaining to play when he took a backhanded pass from Pastrnak through the legs of Samoskevich down below the goal line after the puck popped out from the left boards, and from the left circle, he scored five-hole on a one-timer, picking up his 13th of the season for the 3-2 final.
Mason Lohrei on the win as a new group, Zadorov’s fight/what did it do for the energy of the group, and his goal: “It shows a lot about what we have in here. I mean, we’re never going to give up. We know where we’re at and we’re just going to keep fighting. You saw it tonight. …I haven’t been that fired up in a long time. That was unbelievable. I mean, he does so much for us. Right before that, he saved a goal, the puck went out of play, and then we all know what happened after that,” – “It’s all on that line, just relentless forecheck from those guys, especially Lauks. That puts pressure on their D, puck pops out, and I’m just down on it.”
Nikita Zadorov on after his fight, the win/come back, if the fight was to send a message/history with both the Florida Panthers and Bruins: “It was just emotions. It was fun to get a win. Great win for this team. I thought we played good hockey, obviously against a good hockey team, and came back, which showed a lot of character in this team. There’s no quit. It was just emotions up there,” – “There’s always game inside the game, so you try to win those, obviously. Where we are in the standings is not where we want to be, so hopefully we’re going to be higher up and we can match up against those guys in the playoffs. There’s definitely history in these two teams… I’m just playing hard. I’m in front of the net, and the guy cross-checks me in the face. I got to step up for myself. So, I think that was just a hockey moment over there. I wasn’t thinking to send a message.”
Game Notes:
– Jeremy Swayman made a total of 26 saves for Boston.
– David Pastrnak had a two-point night, picking up both a goal and an assist. …Pasta tied both Rick Middleton and Bobby Orr for the third-most 80-point seasons in Boston Bruins history with six. Only both Ray Bourque (10) and Phil Esposito (eight) have more.
– The Bruins lead the NHL with four multi-goal third-period comeback wins this season.
– With three seconds left to play, Nikita Zadorov and Sam Bennett dropped the gloves.
– BOS: 30-28-8, FL: 40-22-3
– Sergei Bobrovsky made a total of 21 saves for Florida.
– In their previous four games, the Florida Panthers have outscored their opponents 12-1.
– The Panthers were playing their first game without Aaron Ekblad, who had been suspended for 20 games for violating the terms of the NHL/NHLPA Performance Enhancing Substances Program on Monday, March 10th.
– When Pastrnak scored on the power play, it had been the first power-play goal Florida has allowed in seven games (22 opportunities).
Season 4. Episode 24. Franchise Altering Deadline – Bruins Benders Podcast
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