Bruins Hold Off Panthers

     The Florida Panthers fell to the Boston Bruins 5-2 on Sunday at BB&T Center. The B's swept the season series against the Cats for the second consecutive season and have knocked them off eight straight times. The Bruins, who are now in first place in the Eastern Conference, also extended their winning streak to a season-high five games.
     There was no scoring in the first period, but Florida(24-33-7) was able to get the lead seven minutes into the second. Sean Bergenheim sent a pass from the right corner to Nick Bjugstad in the right circle. His snap shot was saved by Chad Johnson, however Jimmy Hayes put in the rebound for his sixth goal of the season.
     The game was evened by Boston(42-17-5) on the power play at 9:58. Reilly Smith passed the puck from the left point to Andrei Mezsaros, who made his Bruins debut, on the right point. He pounded a one-time slapshot which was tipped in by Carl Soderberg at the top of the crease and went past Roberto Luongo. It was 12th goal of the campaign.
     In the third period, Boston took their first lead of the game at 7:38. Patrice Bergeron moved a left outlet pass ahead to Andrew Marchand in the Cats zone. He spun around in the left circle and blindsided a backhand pass to Torey Krug in the slot for a one-timer for his 13th goal this year.
     Both teams then combined for three goals in 52 seconds. The Bruins got their second power-play goal at 11:21. Loui Eriksson had the puck below the icing line and fed Bergeron for a one-time snap shot from the right circle for his 18th goal.
     Jimmy Hayes picked up his second goal of the contest for the Panthers at 11:50. Jonathan Huberdeau controlled the puck to the right side of the crease and put a shot on net. Hayes was able to poke it between the pads of Johnson inside the blue paint.     
     The B's moved it back to a two-goal margin just 23 seconds later. Milan Lucic had the puck in the left circle and connected with Jarome Iginla as he ripped a wrist shot from the slot area for his 20th goal of the year. It was his 550th career NHL goal as he moved to 26th on the all-time list just six goals behind former Bruins Johnny Bucyk.
     Chris Kelly blocked a shot in his own zone at the right point and skated in alone in the Panthers zone as he scored into an empty net with 1:08 remaining. Luongo dropped to 20-17-6 this season as he made 37 saves while Chad Johnson improved to 13-3-1 as he stopped 20 shots. The Cats were 0-for-4 on the power play while Boston converted on two of four attempts.