Florida jumped out to a 2-0 lead before things began going south for the Panthers
Florida jumped out to a 2-0 lead before things began going south for the Panthers
The night before Halloween was full of spooks as far as the Florida Panthers were concerned.
Florida lost 3-2 in overtime to the host Boston Bruins, but putting an even darker cloud over the evening were injuries suffered by Panthers center Sam Bennett and defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson.
The game started out well for Florida as they jumped all over the Bruins, and it was the Panthers top line that led the way.
Sasha Barkov and Sam Reinhart traded goals, with each providing the primary assist for the other, as the visitors took a 2-0 lead into the first intermission.
Boston got one back early in the second when a Jake DeBrusk centering pass hit Brad Marchand's stick before going off Gus Forsling's skate and slowly sliding across the goal line.
It wasn’t long after that the game took an ominous turn for the Panthers.
Bennett, playing in his first game of the season after suffering a lower-body injury during the preseason, appeared to badly injure his left leg or ankle on a play where Bruins defenseman Hampus Lindholm seemed to put his weight on Bennett’s leg while the two were fighting for positioning next to Boston’s net.
Boston carried much of the momentum from that point on, but Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky was brilliant between the pipes.
He stopped nine Bruins shots over the following several minutes, keeping Florida’s slim lead intact heading into the third period.
It was the first time this season that Boston trailed after 40 minutes.
The third period started with few chances for either team, but when Boston finally got an opening on a 2-on-1 zone entry, they capitalized.
Charlie McAvoy trailed the play and David Pastrnak found him cutting to the net. McAvoy beat a sliding Bobrovsky, evening the score at two.
About two minutes later, McAvoy was tossed from the game after being handed a match penalty for an illegal hit to the head of Ekman-Larsson.
Based off the replay, McAvoy can probably expect to hear from the NHL’s Department of Player Safety.
Despite the injuries, Florida maintained the edge and controlled the majority of play, outshooting Boston 12-4 during the third period.
The Panthers were unable to cash in on the five-minute power play though, and that could come back to bite them.
Florida dominated the majority of the overtime session, but a sudden break for Boston led to Pavel Zacha sniping Bobrovsky to send the Bruins fans home happy.
Following the game, Maurice said that he'd seen Bennett walking around but had no updates, only that both Bennett and Ekman-Larsson would be checked out on Tuesday and he'd know more af
Here are a few quick thoughts and observations from Monday’s game in Boston:
McAvoy’s hit on OEL wasn’t an isolated incident. During the first period, he had a shot to the head of Verhaeghe that went uncalled and unchecked by the officials. Maurice mentioned it after the game.
It was nice to see the top line getting back to form after a rough night against Seattle. The trio held a 9-4 advantage in 5-on-5 scoring chances and 3-0 in high-danger chances, while outscoring Boston 2-0 when on the ice, per Natural Stat Trick.
Before his injury, Bennett looked great. His shifts were dominant possession-wise. We can only hope his injury wasn’t as bad as it appeared.
Bobrovsky was great, again. If the Bob we’ve seen over the past couple weeks is the Bob Florida is going to get this season, that puts things into an entire different perspective for the Panthers. High-end goaltending on a regular basis would set Florida apart, as long as they can stay healthy.
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