Bruins roar back with win of the season over Panthers
It’s been a long, frustrating season for the Bruins.
I know it, you know it, and most of all, they know it. But as long as there’s a still heartbeat when it comes to their playoff chances — as faint as it may be — and even after trading three core pieces at last weekend’s trade deadline, they are going to continue to push. They did it on Saturday against the Lightning, and found a way to up the ante Tuesday night at TD Garden, as the Bruins erased a two-goal deficit with a third-period comeback to down the defending Cup champion Panthers by a 3-2 final.
Down 2-0 with just over 15 minutes remaining in the third period, the Bruins rallied with three goals in a span of less than eight minutes, with strikes from David Pastrnak and Mason Lohrei before Pavel Zacha‘s game-winning goal scored with 3:17 remaining in the game.
“Just a good-spirited game, and I think that’s the type of hockey we want to play,” Bruins interim head coach Joe Sacco said following the win. “We’re not going to quit. We’re going to battle right to the end. That’s the Bruins, right? That’s what we want to be.”
For the Bruins, the victory marked the sixth time that the Bruins pulled off a win in a game where they were trailing after 40 minutes of play, and the first since a third-period comeback against the Avs back on Jan. 25 at TD Garden. This was also the second-latest that the Bruins trailed in a game and won this season, trailing only a Dec. 7 win over Philly, which ultimately required overtime for the Bruins.
“We believe in here and we’re gonna show up every day and go to work,” Lohrei said. “Just trying to get two points every night. That’s the main thing.”
In goal, the Bruins’ Jeremy Swayman finished with 26 saves for his second straight victory. After surrendering a goal on the second shot his faced in this contest, Swayman buckled down with saves on all but one of the 26 shots that followed, and had a timely save on a two-on-one opportunity for the Panthers with just under 10 minutes remaining in the third period of play.
Swayman and his defensemen also straight-up battled over the final three minutes of play against the Panthers’ 5-on-4 advantage and then a 6-on-5 advantage, and refused to break.
With the win (and a Columbus loss to New Jersey), the Bruins moved back within two points of the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.
And now comes the most important game of the season for the Bruins, as they’ll take their act to Ottawa for a Thursday night head-to-head with the Senators, who are currently in the first wild card spot in the East and hold a five-point edge over the B’s in the standings.
