Anton Lundell and Sam Reinhart each scored two goals, and Sergei Bobrovsky was at his best in the third period to lead the Florida Panthers to a gritty 4-3 win over the Boston Bruins at Amerant Bank Arena North… I mean TD Garden.
The Bruins came out strong and after being rebuffed by Bobrovsky four times, took the lead at the 4:53 mark when Mason Lohrei sent a return pass to Mark Kastelic and he slung the puck towards the net and had it deflect in off Johnny Beecher. Giveaways by Jonah Gadjovich and Nate Schmidt aided the Boston cause.
Lundell tied it 1:44 later with the teams skating four aside after Mason Lohrei jammed Hampus Lindholm with a pass behind the net. Lundell took a swipe at the loose puck and it seeped past Jeremy Swayman with some help from Lindholm’s skate.
The Cats wasted no time taking advantage of an undisciplined penalty by Charlie McAvoy to gain the lead. Adam Boqvist ended up with the puck after the ensuing faceoff and knocked it up the boards to Sam Reinhart, who skated through the left circle and sniped Swayman at 11:51. The assist was Boqvist first point in a Florida kit.
Florida got off to a good start in the second, but the Bruins were able to draw even at 5:08 when Cole Koepke dumped the puck behind the net to Kastelic and his centering pass into the slot struck Koepke’s skate and ended up on Brandon Carlo’s waiting blade and he fired it home from just above the right circle.
Reinhart would put the Panthers back on top with a shorthanded goal at 9:39, stripping the puck from Matthew Poitras and going the other way. As he was caught, Reinhart tried to pass off to Jesper Boqvist, but it was broken up by Charlie Coyle. Reinhart then swiped the puck from Coyle and quickly buried it with Swayman knocked out of position. Just a brilliant effort from Reinhart.
Lundell got his second unassisted goal of the afternoon at the 12:59, catching the Bruins in change after Gustav Forsling banged the puck up the boards to him, and solving Swayman with a perfect shot from the right circle.
A misplay between Bobrovsky and Carter Verhaeghe allowed the Bruins to cut the deficit after the puck ended up on the stick of Lohrei, who moved in from the left point and maneuvered past Evan Rodrigues before beating Bobrovsky with a nice shot from the left circle. The assists went to Kastelic, his third of the game, and Beecher. The goal came just 1:08 after Lundell’s marker. Foot meet shot…
Fortunately, that was it for the Boston goals.
Bobrovsky was perfect in the third period, coming up with nine saves, including key stops on Pavel Zacha and Trent Frederic to help the Cats, again missing Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk, push its one-goal lead over the finish line to get back in the win column.
The Panthers will finish off its four-game road trip tomorrow night at Nationwide Arena, in what should be a very emotional home-opener for the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Tea & Honey
- Sam Reinhart earned First Star honors for scoring both a power-play and shorthanded goal. Reinhart was one of three players, Mark Kastelic and Johnny Beecher were the others, to finish with a plus-three rating.
- Speaking of Kastelic, his three assists were a single-game, career-high. He has five points in his first four games with the Bruins.
- Anton Lundell scored his first two goals of the 2024-25 campaign and notched his first game-winner. Lundell logged 19:16 of ice time, finished with four shots, and won nine of 13 draws.
- Sergei Bobrovsky got the best of Jeremy Swayman again. Bobrovsky made 24 saves to get the win while Swayman stopped 22 shots in taking his first loss of the season.
- Sam Bennett didn’t figure in the scoring, but he did have a game-high six shots on goal and was credited with three hits in 18:30 TOI.
- The two Atlantic Division titans combined for 74 hits and 40 penalty minutes in the chippy afternoon affair.