The Bruins kept rolling Sunday afternoon, pushing their winning streak to four straight with a 4-1 victory over the Florida Panthers.
Boston wasted no time setting the tone. Elias Lindholm opened the scoring at 4:50 of the first period, finishing a play set up by Casey Mittelstadt and Charlie McAvoy. Just over a minute later, Mikey Eyssimont made it 2-0 at 6:11 in his season debut, with Fraser Minten earning the assist.
The Bruins kept the pressure on and stretched the lead to 3-0 when Morgan Geekie scored on the power play at 15:59. David Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha were credited with the assists.
Florida answered before the period ended. Carter Verhaeghe scored on the power play at 18:05, cutting the deficit to 3-1 with assists from Brady Tkachuk and Matthew Tkachuk.
The opening 20 minutes were chaotic in every sense. There were 11 combined penalties for 34 penalty minutes, and both teams went 1-for-3 on the power play.
The second period brought no goals, but it did bring more whistles. Boston carried its 3-1 lead into the second intermission after a scoreless frame that featured 10 penalties, including four 10-minute misconducts in the final eight seconds, split evenly between the two teams.
The Bruins put the game away almost immediately in the third. Peterka scored at 0:58, with Pastrnak and Zacha picking up the assists, and Boston’s 4-1 lead held the rest of the way.
Jeremy Swayman got the start in goal for Boston and stopped 40 of 41 shots. The win was his ninth of the season.
Boston now turns to Thursday night’s matchup with the Montreal Canadiens at TD Garden. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. ET on NESN.
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For a team that has spent much of the season searching for a reliable rhythm, the recent stretch has offered a reminder of what this group can look like when the pieces fit. The timing matters, too, with Patrice Bergeron just being inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame and James Hagens landing on injured reserve, leaving the Bruins to keep building momentum while sorting through the bigger picture around the roster. [Read more 🡒]
