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Recap: Panthers finally fall, lose 3-2 in a shootout to Bruins

Posted on by Todd Little

Charlie Coyle, who notched the game-opening goal, was the only player to score in the shootout to give the Boston Bruins a 3-2 shootout win over the Florida Panthers at TD Garden, bringing the Cats eight-game winning streak to an end.

The depleted Panthers, who beat Detroit the night before, did well to earn another point, especially given the circumstances surrounding the team. Florida was without Sam Bennett, Anton Lundell and Joe Thornton, and playing just its second game under interim head coach Andrew Brunette.

Goaltender Spencer Knight, who stopped 31 of 33 shots, suffered his first regular season defeat, as did Brunette, obviously.

After Coyle put the Bruins up with 42 seconds left in the first by snapping a wrist shot by Knight from the lower left circle, Anthony Duclair answered back 47 ticks into the second for his team-leading sixth goal, Aaron Ekblad sent a long pass to Carter Verhaeghe, who gained the zone and sent a cross over to Duclair. The Duke knifed his way through a few Bruins into the slot and fired the puck by Linus Ullmark to turn it on again.

In the third period, the Panthers took just six seconds to cash in on the only chance they got on the power play to forge ahead. Aleksander Barkov won a faceoff back to Ekblad, who passed off to Jonathan Huberdeau. Huberdeau went circle to circle to Barkov, who solved Ullmark with a super fast catch-and-release at the 7:49 mark. Barkov has put up three goals in the last two games.

A tripping penalty on Verhaeghe would lead to the game-tying goal with 6:25 left in regulation. An unmarked Charlie McAvoy got his first of the season, finishing off a pretty crossing pass from Brad Marchand, Taylor Hall, who had the primary assist on Coyle’s goal, picked up his second helper of the night on the play.

After Knight made the only save necessary in overtime, the game went to the shootout where Ullmark denied Barkov, Huberdeau and Owen Tippett, and after the rookie keeper stopped Jake DeBrusk in the first round, Coyle second round finish stood up to give the Bruins the win.

The Panthers played well enough to win this one, but they were done in in large part by former Sabre Ullmark, who stopped 33 of 35 shots and came up with a big save on a MacKenize Weegar blast shortly before McAvoy’s tying marker. Florida only took three minors, but the call on Verhaeghe proved costly and its trio of talented forwards couldn’t answer the bell in the shootout. Faceoffs continue to be a problem, but with three centers out the lineup, the problem wasn’t going to get solved last night. Despite the loss, the Cats top the league with 17 points and get four much-needed days off to heal both mentally and physically before they face Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals Thursday night at FLA Live Arena.

Tea & Honey

  • Jonathan Huberdeau played his 600th NHL game, joining Stephen Weiss (654) and Radek Dvorak (613) as the only players to reach the milestone with the Panthers. Huberdeau’s third period assist extended his point streak to six games (3G/6A), one shy of his NHL career high.
  • With his first period assist, Taylor Hall became the second player from the 2010 NHL Draft to reach 600 points after Dallas Stars forward Tyler Seguin. Eleven years later and Taylor and Tyler is still a thing…
  • Recall Zac Dalpe made his Florida debut and registered two hits, one block and a -1 rating in just 6:08 of ice time.
  • Brad Marchand became the tenth player to hit the 400-assist mark with the Bruins. Curtis Lazar picked up his first point of the season with the secondary assist on Charlie Coyle’s goal.
  • Defensemen Radko Gudas and Gustav Forsling led both teams with five shots on goal apiece. Gudas matched Boston’s Craig Smith with a game-high four hits.
  • The dish being served at Stanley Cup of Chowder won’t be as tasty as it was on Thursday./

Video Recap (courtesy of NHL.com)

Talking Points