Bruins come back in third to beat Panthers, move into first place
The Boston Bruins scored twice in a span of 2:01 late in the third period, snatching a resilient win from the grip of the Florida Panthers by a 4-3 final on Tuesday night at Amerant Bank Arena.
Pavel Zacha scored the game-winner with just 2:21 to go in the game, as David Pastrnak simply threw the puck on net and got himself a fortuitous bounce off Zacha’s skate. And with that, the Bruins narrowly avoided their third straight regulation loss, instead grabbing arguably their biggest win of the regular season so far.
THE BRUINS TAKE THE LEAD WITH TWO MINUTES LEFT 🚨 pic.twitter.com/hwWFpRB390
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) March 27, 2024
The Panthers got the scoring started just 27 seconds into the game, after Evan Rodrigues shoveled in a rebound point-blank off a bad-angle shot from Aleksander Barkov. As the first period went on, the Bruins gained traction, and eventually tied it off a wide-open slap shot by Charlie McAvoy. But the relief was short-lived for Boston, as Florida got it right back just 1:13 later on a tip-in by Sam Reinhart, his 51st goal of the season.
Chuckie's 10th of the year to tie a career high. pic.twitter.com/cFvn4no9oH
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) March 26, 2024
The second period started to feature more heated interactions, including two fights, the first between Hampus Lindholm and Sam Bennett after the two spilled out of a big scrum.
Clearly still some animosity between the Bruins and Panthers 😳 pic.twitter.com/wEMhmUyxKA
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) March 27, 2024
The second was a battle of two wildly different weight classes, as the 5-foot-9 Brad Marchand bravely took on the 6-foot-5 Niko Mikkola.
NOW MARCHAND AND MIKKOLA DROP THE GLOVES 😳 pic.twitter.com/sjKFMCWLem
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) March 27, 2024
It appeared the Bruins may have gotten the spark they needed, as they found the equalizer about five minutes later. David Pastrnak finished a great centering feed by Charlie McAvoy through traffic to tie it up 2-2.
88 evens it up 💯 🍝 pic.twitter.com/0h4gVcE3AK
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) March 27, 2024
A tightly battled third period broke open when the Panthers finished a 3-on-2 rush, thanks to a well-timed shot by Carter Verhaeghe through Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman. The Bruins also had to kill off a penalty soon after that, and fortunately for them they got through it, because they tied the game with just 4:22 to go in regulation with a strong rush by Marchand and a one-timer rocket by Trent Frederic. Zacha’s game winner would come 2:01 later.
The Bruins tie it AGAIN 😱 pic.twitter.com/1kE7L6p7b8
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) March 27, 2024
With the victory, the Bruins jumped ahead of the Panthers for first place in the Atlantic Division as they improved to 42-16-15. They have a quick turnaround down in Florida, as they’ll head to Tampa next to take on the Lightning at Amalie Arena.
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Matt Dolloff is a writer and podcaster for 985TheSportsHub.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group, or any subsidiaries. Check out all of Matt’s content.