The Bruins have swept the season series from the Florida Panthers, winning all four games with a total of five goals. This had been Boston’s fourth straight win, and they only have four more games to go before the Stanley Cup Playoffs. It was a close game with the Panthers at the TD Garden, however, Jesper Boqvist called it a wrap in overtime when he scored his sixth goal of the season for the 3-2 final. Linus Ullmark made 28 saves for Boston, and the Bruins are five points ahead of the Florida Panthers in the Atlantic Division. Boston will host the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday to hopefully continue their win streak.
Panthers lineup against the Bruins:
Tarasenko – Barkov – Reinhart
Cousins – Bennett -Tkachuk
Luostarinen – Lundell – Rodrigues
Gadjovich – Stenlund – Lomberg
Forsling – Ekman-Larsson
Mikkola – Montour
Manhura – Kulikov
Bobrovsky
Stolarz
Bruins lineup against the Panthers:
Marchand – Coyle – Geekie
Heinen – Zacha – Pastrnak
DeBrusk – Boqvist – Frederic
van Riemsdyk – Beecher – Lauko
Lindholm – McAvoy
Grzelcyk – Carlo
Wotherspoon – Peeke
Ullmark
Swayman
Only 37 seconds into the game, Matthew Tkachuk scored his 25th of the season to give Florida a 1-0 lead. The puck had deflected to him in the right circle, taking advantage of an odd bounce off the end boards. Charlie McAvoy tied it 1-1 at 14:18 in the first period, beating Sergei Bobrovsky from the high slot. It had been his 11th goal of the season, as well as the last goal scored in the opening period. The Bruins unfortunately failed to capitalize on three power-play opportunities.
Charlie Coyle scored on the man-advantage to put the Bruins on top 2-1 late in the second at 4:15 when he redirected a centering pass from Brad Marchand in the crease. Before this goal, the Bruins had been 1-for-22 on the power play in their past eight games.
Aleksander Barkov tied it 2-2 at 14:36 of the third period for his 23rd goal of the season and his fifth goal in the past six games. He scored off a rebound of a shot by Sam Reinhart from the left side, the teams skating at 4-on-4. The Panthers and Bruins headed into overtime to determine the game-winner.
With 2:55 remaining in overtime, Jesper Boqvist scored his first overtime goal in the NHL. He beat Sergei Bobrovsky stick side on a breakaway for the 3-2 final.
Jesper Boqvist on learning, his overtime goal, and the chemistry with Jake DeBrusk: “I feel like every chance I get, I keep getting a little bit better even though some games are worse. I pick up on stuff from the guys, so I’m trying to improve each and every day,” – “I didn’t think too much, so it just kind of happened. Good feeling for sure… Last game was the first game, it started a little bit slow I feel like, and we grew into it a little bit. Today was a step in the right direction again, so hopefully we can keep building on that.”
Charlie Coyle on the Bruins’ overtime victory against the Florida Panthers overall: “It’s another big game, another playoff-type game against a team who’s going to be there. Those games aren’t hard to get up for, we’ve had a lot of them lately, and it makes you feel good. It gives you confidence as a group to win those ones, but just to do it and play the way we want to play, know how to play, and it’s not always perfect, there are things in here we can still learn from – the other team is good, and they have some pushes and make plays… but for the most part, to come back when those little lapses happen, next shift comes and does the right thing – that’s a sign of a good team.”
Notes:
– Danton Heinen recorded an assist and has 10 points total in his past 11 games (five goals, five assists)… Charlie McAvoy has recorded 11 goals this season, which is an NHL career-high for him.
– Sergei Bobrovsky made 26 saves for Florida… Aleksander Barkov extended his point streak to seven games with five goals and five assists. He had also scored his 21st game-tying goal, this being the most in Florida Panthers history.
