Bruins Move Into First in Atlantic Division Standings, Defeating Florida Panthers 4-3 | 3/26/2024

   Only 27 seconds into the first period, Evan Rodrigues put the Panthers in the lead with his 11th of the season. Aleksander Barkov’s shot at a sharp angle went off Jeremy Swayman’s pad, and Rodrigues grabbed up the loose puck in the crease. Charlie McAvoy tied it 1-1 later on into the first when he got a cross-ice feed from Matt Grzelcyk in the right circle, sending a one-timer past Sergei Bobrovsky. With 1:04 left in the opening frame, Sam Reinhart put Florida back in front 2-1, scoring off a cross-crease pass from Eetu Luostarinen through traffic. It had been Reinhart’s 51st goal of the season and his third in the past two games.

   David Pastrnak recorded his 100th point of the season when he evened it up 2-2 at 4:-1 of the second. Charlie McAvoy, who had been at the right wall, found Pastrnak at the left side of the net and passed the puck to him for his 45th goal of the season.

   Carter Verhaeghe scored his 33rd of the season to bring the Panthers up one on an odd-man rush from the left circle at 10:07 of the final frame. Tying it once again 3-3, Trent Frederic recorded his 18th goal of the season during a power play… Pavel Zacha struck the go-ahead goal at 2:21 of the third period when David Pastrnak’s pass had deflected in off Zacha’s skate at the left side of the net for the 4-3 final.

Jeremy Swayman on what this win can do for the team moving forward: “This was special, a real momentum-builder for us – I think it just prepares us for what to expect, especially the next nine games plus playoffs. That’s a really good team we just played and this gave us a boatload of confidence moving forward in what we need to do to prepare ourselves for playoffs.”

Brad Marchand on the Bruins’ victory: “I thought it was a good effort by our group. That was a playoff-type game out there, and both teams played hard. They came out very good off the start and we knew they were going to push – they always do and they always play very physical, but a lot of fun to be a part of a game like that. Great character win for us.”

Notes:

– Pavel Zacha, David Pastrnak, and Charlie McAvoy each recorded a goal and an assist.

  Pastrnak is the fifth player in Bruins history to have consecutive 100-point seasons (45 goals, 56 assists)… He joins Bobby Orr (six), Phil Esposito (five), Adam Oates (two), and Barry Pederson (two). David Pastrnak had 113 points last season (61 goals, 52 assists).

  McAvoy reached the 10-goal mark with his goal in the first period. This is the second time in his NHL career, 10 in the 2021-22 season

– Jeremy Swayman made a total of 19 saves for Boston, and Sergei Bobrovsky made a total of 17 saves for Florida.

– Aleksander Barkov made his return to the lineup after sustaining a lower-body injury and missing three games.

– Sam Reinhart is just eight goals from tying Pavel Bure (59, 2000-01) for the most in a season in Florida Panthers history.