Panthers rally after trailing by four in third, top Bruins in shootout

BOSTON -- The Florida Panthers rallied to win after trailing by four goals for the first time in their history, defeating the Boston Bruins 5-4 in the shootout at TD Garden on Tuesday.

Sam Montembeault made the save on all 15 shots he faced after relieving Sergei Bobrovsky to start the third period and stopped three of four shooters in the shootout for the Panthers (9-4-5), who have won their past two games.
Keith Yandle had a goal and two assists, Jonathan Huberdeau had three assists, and Vincent Trocheck and Mike Hoffman scored in the shootout for Florida, which scored four goals in the third.
"Well that was the improbable one, didn't expect to do that one," Panthers coach Joel Quenneville said. "We were fine, it was 0-0 (after the first period), and then we lost our composure and we gave up four quick ones (in the second period), so we weren't happy with the way basically the whole second period went.
"Scoring early in the first shift of the third gave us obviously a little bit of a lift there, and we got a little excitement off of it and the power play came up with a couple big ones and you know, finding a way to win it."
WATCH: [All Panthers vs. Bruins highlights]
Tuukka Rask made 25 saves for Boston (11-3-4), which is winless in its past four games (0-2-2) but extended its home point streak to 10 games (7-0-3). The Bruins are the only NHL team without a regulation loss.
"I should've been sharper in that third period, a couple soft goals and I let the [other] team get some momentum," Rask said. "But it's a 60-minute game, we've been on the other side, you know, kind of you never give up, and that's how teams build character. So good for them, I guess. But yeah, it's a 60-minute game, and I'm sure a lot of it's mental. But I definitely take most of the blame on that third period."
Aaron Ekblad started the rally with a goal 50 seconds into third period to cut the Bruins lead to 4-1.

Frank Vatrano's one-timer on the power play to cut it to 4-2 at 5:26, and Hoffman scored on a backhand under Rask with the man-advantage to make it 4-3 at 9:43.
With Montembeault pulled for an extra attacker, Yandle tied it 4-4 at 18:21.
"We know we can score goals," Hoffman said. "That was kind of our thing going into the third. We knew if we could chip away, maybe we could tie it up, and luckily enough we did."

David Pastrnak scored a 2-on-1 at 11:55 of the second period to give Boston a 1-0 lead, and Joakim Nordstrom made it 2-0 at 14:02.
Anders Bjork scored on the power play with a wrist shot at 17:16 for a 3-0 lead before Zdeno Chara made it 4-0 from a sharp angle at 19:31.
Bobrovsky allowed four goals on 23 shots.
"We definitely should be capable of [closing out the game]," said Chara, the Bruins captain. "… Obviously in the third, we gave them too much space and time, and anytime you do that, the teams will take advantage of that."

They said it

"Obviously winning was good, but being put in that situation where you're watching and all of a sudden you're put in a game and you don't think anything is going to happen, and next thing you know you're in a shootout. I commend him, the stage got bigger as he was out there, and he handled it." -- Panthers coach Joel Quenneville on goalie Sam Montembeault
"This is a team that's closed out games for years, and the last goal to me -- put everything else aside -- is disappointing. We get beat 1-on-1 off the rush, [with a] winger circling out of the scoring area knowing the game is on the line. … Structurally we were bad on that last goal. That's the disappointing part to me." -- Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy

Need to know

Boston's home point streak is its longest to start a season since the 1976-77 Bruins opened with 10 wins and a tie in their first 11 games at Boston Garden. … Quenneville is one win away from becoming the second coach in NHL history to get 900 (Scotty Bowman, 1,244). … Huberdeau tied Stephen Weiss for the most assists in Panthers history (249). … Barkov had two assists and extended his point streak to six games (11 points; five goals, six assists) but his goal streak ended at five games. … Bruins forward Zach Senyshyn did not play after the second period because of a lower-body injury. … Forward Brad Marchand has had at least one point in each of Boston's first 10 home games, the ninth time a Bruins player has done that. He has 19 points (six goals, 13 assists) in those games.

What's next

Panthers: Host the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; FS-F, TSN3, NHL.TV)
Bruins:At the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday (7 p.m. ET; ESPN+, TVAS, TSN4, NESN, NHL.TV)