Eyssimont Scores Twice as Bruins Fall to Florida in Shootout

SUNRISE, Fla. -- The Florida Panthers ended a four-game losing streak with a 5-4 shootout win against the Boston Bruins at Amerant Bank Arena on Wednesday.

Anton Lundell had a goal and two assists in his return after missing three games with an upper-body injury for the Panthers (29-24-3). Matthew Tkachuk and Uvis Balinskis each had a goal and an assist, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 25 saves.

Brad Marchand, who returned to the Panthers lineup after missing two games with a lower-body injury, scored the deciding goal in the fourth round of the shootout.

“Good to get the win. [Boston] is playing really well right now,” said Marchand, who was playing in his second game against his former team since being traded to Florida on March 7.

“I thought we had a good game. Special teams were really good, and that was the difference tonight. … Unfortunately, they were able to battle back in the third (period), but it was good to get that extra point.”

Michael Eyssimont scored twice, and Hampus Lindholm had two assists for the Bruins (32-20-5), who extended their point streak to seven games (4-0-3). Joonas Korpisalo made 22 saves.

Boston trailed by two going into the third period but scored twice to force overtime. The Bruins were coming off a 6-5 shootout loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2026 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa on Sunday.

“They are big points. I’m not going to lie, it has been a grind,” Bruins coach Marco Sturm said. “Unfortunately, we came up short twice on the shootout and we need to get better at that. You might need them. Going to Florida isn’t an easy trip; you get the Stanley Cup champions here, Tampa Bay is the hottest team in the League. We survived. I give my guys a lot of credit.”

Mark Kastelic cut it to 4-3 at 7:52 of the third. Charlie McAvoy sent a shot from the right face-off circle toward the net, and the puck hit Florida defenseman Aaron Ekblad in front before it went off Kastelic’s shoulder and past Bobrovsky.

Boston then tied it 4-4 at 10:30 of the third on its sixth power play of the game when Casey Mittelstadt got to the rebound of a David Pastrnak shot and put a backhand over Bobrovsky’s right pad.

“We found ourselves in a little bit of a hole, but we have proven all year we are going to fight until the final horn blows,” Mittelstadt said. “It was huge to get a point there. Pretty salty we didn’t get the other one. But it was a good third period especially to get a point.”

Florida made it 1-0 at 4:22 of the first period when Eetu Luostarinen jumped on a turnover deep in the Boston zone and beat Korpisalo glove side with a wrist shot.

Eyssimont tied it 1-1 at 7:18, scoring through the five-hole on a breakaway, then came out of the penalty box and gave the Bruins a 2-1 lead at 12:43 on another breakaway. He took a stretch pass from Marat Khusnutdinov, deked Bobrovsky and stuffed the puck in at the right post.

“I didn’t even see [Khusnutdinov] take a look, he just knew,” Eyssimont said. “Good awareness for him to know the time and he got the puck to me. I was feeling it, felt good. I knew I could do something in tight.”

Balinskis tied it 2-2 at 30 seconds of the second period with a power-play goal, taking a pass from Tkachuk and sending a wrist shot past Korpisalo.

Tkachuk then put Florida in front 3-2 on the power play at 2:47 when he banked his own rebound off Korpisalo from behind the goal line.

Lundell pushed the lead to 4-2 at 18:33 with a short-handed goal on the rush, finishing a give-and-go with Sam Reinhart.

NOTES: Pastrnak, who had an assist, is scheduled to fly to Italy on Thursday for the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 and will be the flag-bearer for Czechia. The ceremony is Friday (2 p.m. ET; NBC, CBC). “I am speechless. Very, very honored,” the forward said after the game Wednesday. “I am going to give them my all. Very happy and honored to be able to hold our flag and represent us at the ceremony.” The Olympic men’s hockey tournament begins Feb. 11. … It was Boston’s final game before the Olympic break, which begins Friday. … Bruins forward Morgan Geekie had an assist to extend his point streak to eight games (seven goals, five assists). … Florida forward Sandis Vilmanis (upper body) left the game midway through the first period and did not return after being penalized for an illegal check to the head of McAvoy.