Bruins' Winning Streak Ends at Four Games with Loss to Florida

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Sergei Bobrovsky made 15 of his 28 saves in the third period, and the Florida Panthers held off the Boston Bruins 2-1 at Amerant Bank Arena on Thursday.

Mackie Samoskevich and Sam Bennett scored for the Panthers (37-35-3), who have won two straight. Bobrovsky has won five of his past seven starts.

Fraser Minten scored, and Jeremy Swayman made 22 saves for the Bruins (43-25-8), who had won four straight and six of seven. Boston leads the Ottawa Senators by six points for the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference and is four points behind the Montreal Canadiens for third place in the Atlantic Division.

Florida took a 2-0 lead less than eight minutes into the first period.

“We didn’t respect our opponent tonight,” Bruins coach Marco Sturm said. “They had a lot of guys out, and we didn’t do our job. Shame on us today. It was a big push in the third, but it was a little bit too late. With a team like that, I don’t care who is out, they are a good structure team and played hard. We weren’t willing to do it.”

Samoskevich made it 1-0 at 4:20 by scoring for a third straight game. He picked off a pass by Henri Jokiharju below the goal line on the forecheck, then skated to the top of the left face-off circle and sent a wrist shot inside the near post.

Bennett pushed the lead to 2-0 at 7:39, lifting a shot from the slot over Swayman’s shoulder after A.J. Greer’s initial attempt was blocked.

Minten cut the deficit to 2-1 at 19:33 when he put in a rebound at the right post.

“It’s always nice to get one at the end of a period when you are down,” Minten said. “It’s kind of a reset going into the second. That did not end up being the case. They are as honest a team as there is out there. The way they play, they just put it behind you and make you go get it.”

Bobrovsky preserved the lead 39 seconds into the third when he dove at the right post and used his glove to knock down David Pastrnak’s shot from close range.

The Bruins went on a late power play at 16:39, but the Panthers penalty kill kept them off the board.

“These are important games and we’re winning games at the end of the day,” said Boston forward Morgan Geekie, who had three shots on goal in 18:42 but did not score for a 15th straight game. “It doesn’t matter how we do it. But, tonight, it feels like you let everyone down. Had the opportunities, but it’s been a tough stretch.”

The banged-up Panthers were without two of their top defensemen after Aaron Ekblad and Dmitry Kulikov were injured in the third period of a 6-3 win against the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday.

Ekblad broke a finger blocking a shot, and Kulikov broke his nose after getting struck by a deflected puck. Coach Paul Maurice said Kulikov could return this weekend; Florida plays at the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday and Sunday.

NOTES: Pastrnak had an assist for his 96th point of the season (29 goals, 67 assists). He is closing in on becoming the third player with four 100-point seasons for the Bruins. Phil Esposito and Bobby Orr each did it six times. … The two-time defending Cup champion Panthers avoided being eliminated from playoff contention for the second straight game. … Florida swept the three-game season series against Boston.