David Pastrnak, Charlie McAvoy and Pavel Zacha all logged two points in the Boston Bruins' win Tuesday night at Amerant Bank Arena.
David Pastrnak, Charlie McAvoy and Pavel Zacha all logged two points in the Boston Bruins' win Tuesday night at Amerant Bank Arena.
Boston Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said he didn’t think his team was ready for playoffs following Monday’s practice at Warrior Ice Arena.
Tuesday night at Amerant Bank Arena revealed a different truth as the B’s bested the Florida Panthers 4-3, due in part to a resilient third period and leadership – on the scoresheet and off of it – from their top players.
“Great character win for us,” Brad Marchand said to the media Tuesday. “Monty’s message is that we have to come prepared to play in practice every single day, and we weren’t the other day. But the way we finished is the way we played tonight. We played direct, we played hard and competed all the way through.”
David Pastrnak, Pavel Zacha and Charlie McAvoy all registered two points, with a goal and an assist each, and Jeremy Swayman put up 18 saves. What mattered most, though, was the compete level.
“I think it just prepares us for what to expect, especially these last nine or 10 games, and then of course playoffs,” Swayman said Tuesday. “It gives us a boatload of confidence moving forward.”
The Panthers got out to a quick lead, striking just 27 seconds into the first period. Boston University product Evan Rodrigues knocked home the rebound of Aleksander Barkov’s shot as Florida out-battled the Bruins for net-front positioning and secured the 1-0 advantage.
McAvoy broke an 11-game point drought at 17:43 to tie things 1-1. The defenseman blasted it in from the right circle after D-partner Matt Grzelcyk dished it over to him from the left point. The play was McAvoy’s 10th goal of the season – just the second time he’s hit the stat in his career.
Florida snatched back the lead with just over a minute remaining in the opening frame to make it 2-1. Similar to the Panthers’ first goal, they earned inside ice around the crease, cutting holes in Boston’s coverage and allowing Sam Reinhart to tap the puck past Swayman on the right doorstep at 18:56.
Pastrnak potted the 2-2 equalizer at 15:59 of the second period. McAvoy picked up his second point of the night with the primary assist, dropping it down to Pastrnak who swung it over to the right side of the crease before roofing it over Sergei Bobrovsky. The tally was Pastrnak’s 100th point of the year – marking the second consecutive season he’s reached the accolade.
Two fights broke out in the middle frame. Hampus Lindholm took on Sam Bennett at 5:11 before Marchand dropped the gloves with the 6-foot-5 Niko Mikkola at 10:43 in the inevitably physical matchup between the divisional rivals.
“We want to be part of these games that will get us prepared, mentally, physically. It will help us fine tune our game, making sure we are playing the right way coming into playoffs,” Marchand said.
Carter Verhaeghe wired one past Swayman off the rush at 9:53 of the third period for the 3-2 lift, however a Rodrigues delay-of-game penalty at 14:17 put the Bruins on the man advantage where they tied it up again.
Marchand exploded into the zone with the puck and placed it near the high slot for Trent Frederic to one-time in for the 3-3 scoreline and his 18th goal of the season, which is a new career high for the 26-year-old forward. Swayman’s secondary assist was his first NHL point.
Boston took its first lead of the game two minutes later thanks to a deflected shot from Zacha at 17:39. The initial look came from Pastrnak – who logged his second point of the night with the assist – before a net-front Zacha knocked it in for his 18th of the year.
The Bruins played shut-down hockey for the remainder of regulation and closed out their third win against the Panthers this season.
“It was one of those games where we really stuck to our identity,” Lindholm said. “And a lot of adversity over the game, but we kept coming and kept sticking to our game plan and it showed some results.”
The Bruins have a quick turnaround now and will face the Tampa Bay Lightning for a 7:30 p.m. puck drop Wednesday at Amalie Arena.
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