Pavel Zacha scored with 1:24 remaining in overtime as the Boston Bruins overcame a two-goal deficit to top the Florida Panthers 3-2 at TD Garden and extend its point streak to nine games.
After Eetu Luostarinen’s attempt to feed Uvis Balinskis for a deflection in front went wide, Zacha collected the carom off the boards and went back the other way before beating Sergei Bobrovsky blocker side with a wrister from the right circle.
Aleksander Barkov opened the scoring 6:13 into the tilt. He decided to take the shot on a 2-on-1 break with Sam Reinhart and solved Linus Ullmark from the left circle after Bobrovsky made a big stop on rookie Matthew Poitras at the other end.
The Panthers went up two when Barkov stole the puck from Poitras and sent a backhand out front to Reinhart, who sniped Ullmark from between the circles for his eighth goal at 15:08.
After getting dominated in the opening frame, the Bruins clawed one back 3:38 into the second when Brad Marchand tipped a backhand centering pass from Jake DeBrusk off Gustav Forsling’s skate and in after Charlie Coyle kept the puck in the offensive zone.
The Bruins would even the score 7:20 into the third period. Charlie McAvoy came down from the point to take a pass from David Pastrnak before deftly finishing from in tight. Zacha collected the secondary assist on the play.
A key point in the game came midway through the frame when McAvoy was ejected for smashing Oliver Ekman-Larsson in the melon with his shoulder.
The Panthers generated six shots on the major penalty, but couldn’t get one by Ullmark to retake the lead and had to settle for a point against the top team in the Eastern Conference.
All in all, a good effort from the Panthers, especially the first period, where they put 16 shots on goal and scored twice. Unfortunately, the power play couldn’t convert (0 for 3) and they ended up a goal short. In addition to losing OEL, Sam Bennett didn’t make it through the game either. Bennett was leaned on by Hampus Lindholm near the Boston crease in the second period and suffered yet another lower-body injury. Ouch! Injury issues continued to plague the team in the early going.
Tea & Honey
- Sam Reinhart became the third player in franchise history to score eight goals in the first eight games of a season, joining Pavel Bure and Scott Mellanby.
- Reinhart was one of three Panthers to finish with a game-high five shots. Anton Lundell and Evan Rodrigues were the others. Pavel Zacha led the Bruins with four.
- Aleksander Barkov suited up in his 671st NHL game, tying Jonathan Huberdeau for the most in Panthers history. In addition to his goal and assist, Barkov won 63.6% of his faceoffs and played 22:23.
- Linus Ullmark earned First Star honors for his 35-save gem. Twelve of Ullmark’s saves came with his team shorthanded.
- Sam Bennett played just 7:54 in his season debut before getting hurt. Bennett registered one shot on goal and was on the ice for Brad Marchand’s goal.
- For the other side of this overtime thriller visit Runs On Hockey.