RECAP: Bruins 4, Panthers 3 (OT)

SUNRISE, Fla. – It’s a game of bounces.

After finding the tying goal with 2.8 seconds left in regulation, the Florida Panthers couldn’t manage to pocket the extra point as David Pastrnak scored with a similar amount of time left in overtime to lift the Boston Bruins to a 4-3 win at Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday.

Dominating in defeat, the Panthers finished with a 56-18 advantage in scoring chances.

"I think that's the best game we've played in quite some time,” forward Evan Rodrigues said. “You want the result, you want the two points, but that's not one we're going to hang our heads on or sulk about."

Despite the Panthers looking very much in control early in the first period, the Bruins found an opening after a questionable holding call sent them to the first power play of the game.

Making it count, Morgan Geekie roofed a shot to put Boston up 1-0 at 6:02.

Later earning a power play of their own, the Panthers evened the score when Rodrigues followed up on a shot from Uvis Balinskis and jammed the rebound through Jeremy Swayman in the final second of the man advantage to make it 1-1 at 15:30.

Coming out hot, the Panthers led 14-2 in scoring chances in the first period.

“Sometimes it just takes one to not grip the stick as tight,” Rodrigues said.

In the second period, the fists started to fly.

With plenty of bad blood left over from their two previous meetings in the postseason (playoff series both won by the Panthers) the scrums started to get quite a bit rowdier.

Just past the midway point of the period, A.J. Greer got into an altercation with Charlie McAvoy, and then proceeded to tussle with both Mason Lohrei and Trent Frederic.

Of course, the home crowd loved it.

Despite the Panthers boasting better than a double-digit lead in shots on goal, the Bruins once again found a way to take the lead when Pastrnak tapped a cross-ice pass past Sergei Bobrovsky from the doorstep to make it 2-1 at 16:11.

Setting a new season high through two periods, the Panthers had 65 shot attempts after 40 minutes.

“We came out to play a certain way, and I think we did that from start to finish,” head coach Paul Maurice said. “The breakaways in the third, that’s a function of us opening up the game, but we didn’t do it anywhere else. It was good. We played well. We’ll always try to find something we want to get a little better at, maybe just our net-front positioning.”

Briefly getting the game back to even just 43 seconds into the third period, Sam Reinhart tapped in a feed from Aleksander Barkov to make it 2-2. But less than two minutes later, Oliver Wahlstrom found a loose puck by the net and buried it to put Boston up 3-2 at 2:06.

With 8:20 left, Bobrovsky stoned Pastrnak on a breakaway to keep the deficit to one goal.

Just past the two-minute mark, the Panthers pulled Bobrovsky for the extra attacker.

From there, it was pure theater.

With the Bruins continuing to somehow survive wave after wave of attack, the Panthers kept finding themselves needing to win big draws after icings. Keeping the dream of at least one point alive, Barkov won three consecutive faceoffs during the thrilling 6-on-5 advantage.

With just under 20 seconds left, Pastrnak hit the post and missed the empty net.

Down but not out, the Panthers finally found the goal they’d been looking for when Reinhart dropped to one knee and fired a shot from the slot that fluttered over Swayman and into the cage to make it 3-3 with 2.8 seconds left on the clock.

On the penalty kill late in overtime, the Panthers nearly managed to claw their way to a shootout before Pastrnak sent a puck through the slot that hit off a defender’s stick and sailed past Bobrovsky to lock in the 4-3 win for the Bruins with an incredibly flukey goal.

Even with only one point to show for it, the Panthers can certainly be proud of their effort.

Improving to 25-15-3, they now sit just three points out of first place in the Atlantic Division.

“I think we did some right things,” Barkov said. “I think we had good energy throughout the whole game. We did some right things and played the right way. We had a lot of puck possession in their zone, which we want to do every single not. Not the end result we wanted, but I think there was a lot of positives in this game.”

THEY SAID IT

“We were all over it. There was a belief on the bench that we were going to come back and win that game. Everyone was pulling on the rope. I think we really dumbed it down and simplified the game today, and that’s when we create the most offense.” – Evan Rodrigues

“I feel this season we haven’t been getting many of those 6-on-5 goals, so it was huge for us and huge for our confidence whenever we need to go 6-on-5. We did some good things there and got rewarded.” – Aleksander Barkov

CATS STATS

- The Panthers led 23-6 in high-danger shot attempts.

- Aleksander Barkov won a team-high 16 faceoffs.

- Jesper Boqvist recorded a team-high four hits.

- Niko Mikkola blocked a team-high four shots.

- Gustav Forsling led the Panthers with 25:53 of ice time.

- Sam Reinhart logged his fourth multi-goal game of the season.

WHAT’S NEXT?

Already back on the road?

You bet!

Kicking off a back-to-back, the Panthers will battle the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center on Monday at 7 p.m. ET.

To find a place to watch the game in South Florida, click HERE.