Marchand grabs 2 assists, Panthers hand Bruins 5th straight loss
Marchand notched two assists for his new team in an emotional return to Boston.
Emotions ran high for Brad Marchand in his return to Boston, and so did his point total.
Marchand notched two assists in his first game on TD Garden ice as a member of the Florida Panthers, helping lift his new team to a 4-3 win Tuesday night that marked the fifth straight loss for the Bruins. No. 63 most notably assisted on a go-ahead goal for Eetu Luostarinen in the third period.
After the B's tied it up late in regulation, the Panthers scored a heartbreaker with just 27 seconds left to snatch the victory. Carter Verhaeghe was credited with the score after the puck ricocheted past Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman off defenseman Andrew Peeke.
Marchand made an immediate impact in the first period, firing the game's first shot on goal and drawing a penalty on the opening shift. He then assisted on the game's first goal, hammering away at the puck in crease traffic, only for teammate Mackie Samoskevich to clean up the rebound and give the Panthers a 1-0 lead on their second shot of the game.
Another former Bruins added to the Panthers' lead early in the second period. This time it was A.J. Greer lighting the lamp, as he made a heads-up play to gather a drifting loose puck shortly after the faceoff and fire a quick shot over the shoulder of Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman short-side, putting the Panthers up 2-0.
Despite the two-goal deficit after two periods, the Bruins were out-shooting the Panthers 18-16 through 40 minutes of hockey, including 15-13 at five-on-five. The problem is that the Panthers generated a higher rate of quality scoring opportunities, as evidenced by their 8-5 advantage in high-danger chances (via Natural Stat Trick). The "heat map" illustrated how Florida found better ice crashing the net against Swayman, while keeping the Bruins at tough angles.
Early in the third period, the Bruins finally made it an interesting game. It started with Viktor Arvidsson rushing down the left side and working the puck deep after getting stopped. Casey Mittelstadt took advantage of a favorable bounce of the puck, then played a little tic-tac-toe with linemate Pavel Zacha for a point-blank goal and the deficit cut in half at 2-1.
Exactly two minutes later, the Bruins tied it, and the TD Garden crowd erupted like it hasn't in some time. Elias Lindholm's shot from the point pinballed its way through Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, his third goal of the season and a big one, making it 2-2 early in the third.
Marchand grabbed his second assist on the Luostarinen goal, chipping it up through the neutral zone toward his teammate's stick. Luostarinen maintained just enough puck control and body positioning on backchecking Bruins defenseman Mason Lohrei, and ripped a close-distance shot past Swayman to put the Panthers back on top.
Swayman finished stopping only 19 of 23 Panthers shots on the night (82.6%). Boston lost despite ultimately out-shooting Florida 31-23.
Up Next: The Bruins have now lost five in a row after a 3-0 start. They'll look to get back on track Thursday night, when they take on the Anaheim Ducks on their home ice.
