Panthers Stop Bruins

     The Florida Panthers played their final road game of the 2018-19 season and got a 4-1 victory over the Boston Bruins at TD Garden on Saturday. The Bruins had their 12-game home winning streak snapped. The Panthers finish the regular season with a three-game home stand starting Monday night against the defending Stanley Cup champions the Washington Capitals.
     Florida(35-32-12) picked up a power-play goal with 6:23 left in the first period. Keith Yandle skated the puck to the top of the zone and angled a pass to Dryden Hunt in the right circle. His one-time slap shot went off the stick of Riley Sheahan and past Tuukka Rask.
     They set a franchise record with the most goals in a season with that tally. The Panthers had scored 254 goals back in 1995-96 when they went on to win the Eastern Conference championship.
     The Panthers increased their lead to 2-0 with 4:16 remaining in the opening frame. Jonathan Huberdeau connected a pass from the blue line to Aaron Ekblad above the right circle. His wrist shot from the right circle was saved, however Dadonov put in the rebound with a forehand shot from the crease area for his 27th goal of the season. Rask had given up two goals on the first six Florida shots on goal. Huberdeau compiled his 60th assist of the season on that play.
     Boston(47-22-9) woke up and cut it down to 2-1 with 6:48 to go in the second period. Torey Krug raced for a loose puck on the end wall and moved to the low right circle. He sent a cross-ice pass to the crease where Noel Acciari spun and lifted a backhand shot by Roberto Luongo.
     The Cats pulled off a shorthanded goal with 5:41 left. Mike Matheson cleared it out of the defensive zone and Troy Brouwer hustled into the Bruins zone and got the puck.. He released a wrist shot for his 11th goal of the campaign. It was only the second shorthanded tally for the Panthers this season.
     The B's pulled Rask from the net for an extra attacker with three minutes to go. Aleksander Barkov passed to Huberdeau as he entered the neutral zone. He carried the puck down to the left side of the Boston zone, sent a lead pass to the low slot and Dadonov tapped in his second goal of the contest for a 4-1 margin with 2:19 remaining. Huberdeau passed Scott Mellanby for third all-time in Panthers franchise history with 355 career points. Barkov piled on his 91st point of year which tied Olli Jokinen back in 2006-07 for third best season in points by a Florida Panthers player.