The Panthers and Bruins wasted no time turning Sunday into a mess.
Brady Tkachuk and Nikita Zadorov dropped the gloves right off the opening faceoff, and the game never really calmed down after that. The first period turned into a penalty-heavy slog, with the teams combining for 11 infractions and 34 penalty minutes before the horn even sounded once.
Boston handled the chaos better than Florida did. The Bruins scored three times in the opening period, cashed in once on the power play, and rode that early burst to a 4-1 win.
The result pushed the Atlantic Division leaders to four straight victories, while the Panthers dropped their second in a row and third in their last four. Florida is also now 0-4 against divisional opponents.
Boston struck first at 4:53 when Elias Lindholm’s wrist shot from 50 feet out clipped Niko Mikkola’s skate and slipped through. The puck was initially ruled no goal on the ice, but a lengthy video review changed that call.
Just over a minute later, Mikey Eyssimont made it 2-0 by circling the net and finishing his own rebound, keeping his AHL scoring run going after a recent recall.
The Bruins made it 3-0 late in the period on a 5-on-3 chance. David Pastrnak set up Morgan Geekie for a sharp-angled one-timer from the left circle after Sam Bennett and Aaron Ekblad ended up in the box. Florida finally answered at 18:05, when Carter Verhaeghe buried a feed from Brady Tkachuk past Jeremy Swayman to cut the deficit to 3-1.
The second period brought no goals, but it did bring more misconducts. Brady Tkachuk and Eetu Luostarinen each received 10-minute misconducts at the end of the frame, and two Boston players were sent off as well.
Florida never got closer. At 0:58 of the third, Markstrom stopped Pavel Zacha, but the rebound popped out and Pastrnak found JJ Peterka for the 4-1 goal that put the game away.
The penalty trouble kept building late. Matthew Tkachuk was tossed midway through the third with Florida trailing 4-1, and Brady soon followed him to the room.
The power play numbers reflected the disorder. Boston went 1-for-9, while Florida finished 1-for-5.
For Verhaeghe, the goal came with a notable assist from Brady Tkachuk, giving him 20 points off 10 goals in 17 games and making him the sixth-fastest player to 20 career points with the Panthers, behind Pavel Bure (14), Matthew Tkachuk (14), Sam Bennett (15), Claude Giroux (16) and Kris Versteeg (17).
Verhaeghe also kept adding to his production at TD Garden. He now has six goals there counting the playoffs, including the overtime winner in Game 7 of Round 1 in 2023, when Florida rallied from a 3-1 series deficit to stun the 65-win Bruins.
Florida also made a couple roster moves before the game. The Panthers called up Jack Devine from AHL Charlotte, but with Anton Lundell back after missing one game, Devine was scratched. Florida also replaced Dmitry Kulikov with Radko Gudas.
The Tkachuk brothers will now fly to Toronto with Bill Zito, Brad Marchand and other members of the Panthers’ front office for Keith Tkachuk’s Hall of Fame induction on Monday.
Florida finishes the road trip Tuesday in Columbus. The Panthers and Blue Jackets meet at Nationwide Arena at 7:30 p.m.
In Other News...
Panthers Waste A Huge Night From The Tkachuks In Another Close Loss
A big night from the Tkachuks still wasnt enough to keep Florida from slipping in another tight one at home, where Washington edged the Panthers 4-3. Pierre-Luc Dubois and Aliaksei Protas each finished with a goal and an assist for the Capitals, and Jack St. Ivany picked up his first NHL goal in a game that kept tilting just enough the visitors way.
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Panthers Fans Just Got Pulled Into A New Brady Tkachuk Debate
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Panthers Waste Golden Chance Before Huge Bruins Showdown
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Florida kept pushing from there, but the comeback never fully came together against a Capitals team that held on through the final stretch. Sam Bennett added a late goal off a Matthew Tkachuk assist, giving the Panthers some life, yet it was not enough to erase the damage done earlier in the night, and the result leaves them with more questions than comfort heading into a looming matchup with Boston. [Read more 🡒]