SUNRISE – Pavel Zacha’s go-ahead goal with 2:21 left in the third period helped the Boston Bruins rally past the Florida Panthers 4-3 on Tuesday night in Florida. Zacha’s goal went in off his right skate as teammate David Pastrnak fired the puck toward the net. Florida led 3-2 until Trent Frederic tied the game at 15:38 of the third period with the Bruins on a power play.
Charlie McAvoy, Zacha and Pastrnak each had a goal and an assist for Boston. Pastrnak’s goal was his 45th of the season as he reached the 100-point mark for the second season in a row. His assist on the game-winner gave him 101 points.
Jeremy Swayman recorded the win, making 18 saves. He also earned his first assist of the season on Frederic’s goal.
Boston (42-16-15, 99 points) moved past Florida (46-21-5, 97 points) for first place in the Atlantic Division.
The Bruins, who are 3-0-0 against the Panthers this season, snapped a two-game losing streak.
Florida’s Carter Verhaeghe scored at 9:53 of the third, giving the Panthers a 3-2 lead. Of Verhaeghe’s 33 goals this season, 19 have come in the third period.
Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 17 shots in a losing effort.
Evan Rodrigues and Sam Reinhart also scored for the Panthers. Reinhart’s goal was his 51st of the season. Reinhart and Pastrnak are two of the top five goal-scorers in the NHL this season.
The Panthers got two key players back in the lineup, center Aleksander Barkov and defenseman Gustav Forsling, but it wasn’t enough.
Still, Florida needed just 27 seconds to open the scoring. Barkov earned the primary assist on his bad-angle shot that looked as if it were going in anyway before it was tapped home by Rodrigues.
Boston tied the score at 17:43 of the first as McAvoy ended a 15-game goal drought with his blast from the right circle. With most of Florida’s defenders scrapping for the puck on the left side, Matt Grzelcyk passed to McAvoy on the right to set up the goal.
Florida took a 2-1 lead at 18:56 of the first as Reinhart tapped in the puck. Eetu Luostarinen earned the primary assist.
Boston tied the score 2-2 at 15:59 of the second as McAvoy’s centering pass found Pastrnak alone in front of the net. Pastrnak did the rest, lifting the puck over a sprawled Bobrovsky.
Verhaeghe’s goal gave Florida a 3-2 lead as his shot from the left circle went between the legs of Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo.
However, Boston’s two goals in the final five minutes were too much for Florida to overcome.
–Field Level Media