Bruins claw past Panthers
Frederic, Zacha tally late for win
SUNRISE, Fla. — What better place to reignite an already heated rivalry than sweltering South Florida?
The Bruins and Panthers put on a possible playoff preview — and rematch — Tuesday night at Amerant Bank Arena with Boston emerging with a 4-3 comeback victory.
And comeback might be the understatement of the season.
The Bruins (42-16-15) erased three one-goal deficits and secured the win with a pair of strikes two minutes apart with less than five to play in one of the most physical affairs of the season.
“I love the way we stuck together out there. It was a playoff atmosphere. It’s what we’re going to see in a couple of weeks,” coach Jim Montgomery said. “Love the way we responded and even though we fell down, 1-0, in the first minute and gave up a goal at the end of the first, in the last minute [and four seconds]. Usually, those things are things that end up costing you, but you know what? We just kept forging ahead.”
The Bruins sit in first place in the Atlantic Division and with 99 points sit behind only the Rangers (100) for the top spot in league standings. They’ll play the back half of the Florida double dip Wednesday night in Tampa against the white-hot Lighting.
In a game that was more fisticuffs than finesse for most of the night, it was a fantastic finish for the visitors.
Trailing, 3-2, the Bruins were given a lifeline when Evan Rodrigues was called for delay of game after the former Boston University star popped the puck over the boards at 14:17 of the third. Brad Marchand rushed the puck past a pair of Panthers before calmly dishing to an unmarked Trent Frederic, who onetimed a half-slapper past Sergei Bobrovsky (17 saves) to knot it at 15:38.
The secondary assist went to Jeremy Swayman after the Boston goalie calmed the clear-in for Marchand.
“I didn’t know. I didn’t watch the whole play happen,” Swayman said of his first career point. “I just heard it on the loudspeaker. I was pretty excited.”
With the Panthers stunned and the crowd silent, the Bruins
kept the pressure on and took their first lead at 17:39 when David Pastrnak’s netfront feed went off Pavel Zacha’s skate and past Bobrovsky.
“I saw Pasta look at me before he got the puck, so I was just like, ‘I have to find a way to just get my body in there,’ “Zacha said. “And he tried to find me, and it hit my skate, but I knew that he’s going to try to look for me on the back post. So, I just tried to get something in there in the way to get the puck in and luckily it bounced off my skate.”
The Panthers (46-21-5) pulled Bobrovsky but couldn’t beat Swayman (18 saves), who was at his best in the late stages.
“I mean you never worry about Swayman’s second, third effort — it’s natural,” Montgomery said. “And for our team, the second and third effort was really good tonight.”
It was an ugly start and finish to the first period for the Bruins, and in between it was meh.
Boston fell behind just 27 seconds in when Rodrigues connected.
Aleksander Barkov, just back in the lineup after a three-game injury absence, collected some loose change in the slot and rolled to Swayman’s left before chucking the puck on net. The disc squirmed through a mass of bodies in front and rolled along the goal line when Rodrigues gave it the final shove.
“It’s obviously not what you want to happen, but that’s what I’ve done my whole career: next-shot mentality and just focusing on one shot at a time no matter what,” Swayman said.
The Bruins tied it on Charlie McAvoy’s big-boy slapper from the top of the left circle at 17:43. The snipe snapped McAvoy’s 10-game pointless streak.
Boston couldn’t build on the momentum, however, as the Panthers retook the lead just over a minute later when Sam Reinhart connected for his 51st of the season, converting a net front pass from Eetu Luostarinen.
The second period was a slugfest, highlighted by Hampus Lindholm’s first career fighting major after he battled Sam Bennett.
The Bruins ended the period on high note when Pastrnak scored his 45th of the season — for his 100th point.
McAvoy picked off a clearing attempt and fed Pastrnak after the Panthers left Boston’s leading scorer alone in front. Pastrnak wheeled in front of Bobrovsky and roofed it over the sprawling goalie.
Pastrnak’s goal made him the first Bruin with back-to-back 100-point seasons since Adam Oates in 1993-94 and set the stage for the third period.
“I thought it was a good effort by the group. That was the playoff-type game out there. Both teams played hard,” Marchand said. “They came out very good off the start and we knew they were going to push. They always do.
“They always play very physical, but a lot of fun to be part of a game like that and a great character win.”