The Boston Bruins defeated the Florida Panthers by a 5-4 count in overtime on Monday night in Sunrise.
The game started out looking like easy pickings for the Bruisers from Beantown, with two first period goals from Patrice Bergeron (27, 28) and one each from David Pastrnak (9) and Brett Connolly (9). Aleksander Barkov (20) netted Florida’s only goal in the frame. It looked like we were in for a long night.
After pulling Roberto Luongo (12-for-16 on saves), the Panthers fought their way all the way back to a 4-4 tie with goals from Jiri Hudler (11, 12) and Jussi Jokinen (12). Also earning points for the Panthers were Jonathan Huberdeau with two assists and one helper each for Reilly Smith, Vincent Trocheck, Nick Bjugstad, Jaromir Jagr, Alex Petrovic, and Erik Gudbranson. Jagr’s assist gave him 1,851 career points, passing Gordie Howe for third on the all-time scoring list. He’s now just 36 points behind Mark Messier for second, but will have to play until he’s 60 to catch Wayne Gretzky.
Lee Stempniak ended the affair four minutes into the extra three-on-three period to send the Panthers to their fifth loss in six games. It was the first goal allowed by Al Montoya, who had stopped the first 15 that he had faced. Tuukka Rask stopped 47 Cats’ shots for the victory. Rank tonight’s Panthers, below.
Florida’s next chance to break out of their current slump will arrive on Thursday night in the form of the Ottawa Senators. Join us here in the GameThread, 30 minutes prior to the opening faceoff. Stanley Cup of Chowder has more on the Bruins.