Bruins Escape Panthers

     The Florida Panthers could not hold off the Boston Bruins and lost 4-3 at Amerant Bank Arena on Tuesday night. The Bruins, who clinched the season series, now lead the Panthers in the Atlantic Division by two points. Both clubs will face each other again in Boston on April 6. 

     The Cats began a three-game homestand against Eastern Conference opponents. The Bruins continued their season-high, six-game road trip. 

     Florida(46-21-5) exploded out to a 1-0 lead on their first shift 28 seconds into the opening frame. Vladimir Tarasenko had his shot from the high slot stopped by traffic in front of the net. Aleksander Barkov got to the loose puck at the right goal line and took a shot which got by Jeremy Swayman. Evan Rodrigues poked in a shot from the blue paint for his 11th goal of the campaign. 

     Boston(42-16-15) evened it 1-1 with 2:17 left in the first. Pavel Zacha made a backhand pass from the left wing. Matt Grzelcyk connected a cross-ice pass from the left point. Charlie McAvoy fired a slap shot from the right-circle dot past Sergei Bobrovsky for his 10th goal this year. 

     The Panthers reclaimed the lead 2-1 with 1:04 to go in the frame. Dmitry Kulikov sent a pass from the right point to Eetu Luostarinen at the top left circle. He centered it from the low left circle and it went off the right skate of Sam Reinhart in the crease area for his 51st goal of the season. 

     The B''s tied it up 2-2 with 4:01 remaining in the second. McAvoy intercepted the puck on the right wing and zipped a pass toward the Panthers cage. David Pastrnak, all alone at the top of the crease, released a wrist shot for his 45th goal this season. 

     In the third period, the Cats moved ahead 3-2 at the 9:53 mark. Matthew Tkachuk whipped a pass through the center-ice circle to Oliver Ekman-Larsson. He made a square pass to his left and Carter Verhaeghe got his 33rd goal in 2023-24 as he snapped a shot from the left circle. 

     The Bruins picked up a power-play goal with 4:22 left in the third. Swayman pushed the puck ahead from his own crease and Brad Marchand raced down the left side of the ice to the left wing of the Panthers zone. Trent Frederic then blasted a one-time slap shot from the high slot for his 18th goal this season. It was Swayman's first assist and first point of his NHL career. 

     Boston got their first lead of the contest 4-3 with 2:21 remaining. Parker Wotherspoon stopped a clearing pass at the left point and angled a centering pass. Pastrnak passed the puck from the right circle and it went off the left skate of Zacha at the left of the crease for the go-ahead goal.