Bruins Find Way to Win Against Panthers in Overtime, 3-2

The Boston Bruins hosted the Florida Panthers at TD Garden Monday night, exactly six months after the 2022-23 season-ending Game 7 overtime loss in April, and won 3-2 in overtime, slowly finding their footing through the 60-plus minutes.

Danton Heinen, who had been skating on a PTO with the Bruins since training camp, cracked the lineup after earning a one-year contract with a $775,000 cap hit on Monday. The 28-year-old was on the fourth line wing with Oskar Steen and Johnny Beecher at center.

The first period was arguably the worst 20 minutes of hockey the Bruins have played this season. The team came out flat, failed to defend the middle of the ice and got mostly perimeter shots off in the little O-zone time they possessed. The Panthers, on the other hand, came out flying, had sharp, seamless transitions through the neutral zone and got pucks in high-danger areas down-low – not to mention their smothering forecheck.

Aleksander Barkov and Sam Reinhart headlined Florida’s offensive production in the opening frame, each logging a goal and an assist while setting up each other’s scoring plays. Barkov made it 1-0 at 13:48, snapping it from the left side on the rush after Reinhart chipped the puck up from the defensive end. The two first-liners went on a 2-on-1 against Matt Grezlcyk who soon left the game halfway through the first period with an upper-body injury and did not return for the rest of the night.

Reinhart’s goal at 15:08 came after the Bruins failed to clear the puck out of their own end. Barkov pickpocketed Matt Poitras behind the net and dished it to Reinhart in the slot who ripped it past Linus Ullmark for the 2-0 advantage. The B’s had little response to the two-goal deficit – held to six shots on goal through 20 minutes – and just had to get out of the period.

Captain Brad Marchand got his team on the scoreboard at 3:38 of the second period, chipping in a backhanded pass from Jake DeBrusk while stationed right in front of Panthers goaltenderSergei Bobrovsky’s crease to make it 2-1. The Bruins – and an audibly frustrated TD Garden crowd – desperately needed the lift.

Charlie McAvoy found the equalizer for Boston at 7:20 of the third period and shifted the momentum of the game. David Pastrnak dropped the puck to McAvoy while driving the net, and the D-man went high glove-side on Bobrovsky to tie things up 2-2.

The Bruins' bench was jolted alive by the tally, and strung together consecutive top-tier chances, but McAvoy was soon assessed a five minute match penalty with 10:32 remaining in regulation for an illegal check to the head on Oliver Ekman-Larsson. The penalty kill, which has been near foolproof this season, came up big for the B's and killed the major off. 

Neither team could break the tie in the third, forcing overtime, where Pavel Zacha was the hero, clinching the 3-2 win with a wrister from the right circle at 3:36 of the extra hockey.

The Bruins found a way to win in a game that carried extra meaning.