RECAP: Panthers 5, Bruins 4 (SO)

SUNRISE, Fla. – Earning the 450^th win of his career, Sergei Bobrovsky made 25 saves in regulation and overtime before stopping three more shots in the shootout to backstop the Florida Panthers to a 5-4 win over the Boston Bruins at Amerant Bank Arena on Wednesday.

Snapping out of a four-game skid, the Panthers now sit at 29-24-3.

“It’s important,” said Bobrovsky, who became just the eighth goaltender in NHL history to reach 450 wins. “It’s important not only because of the points and the opponent it’s against, but also for the emotional atmosphere in the locker room. To get the win and feel that enjoyment and build that chemistry and build, step by step, our game.”

After having an early goal from Sam Bennett taken off the board due a successful offside challenge by the Bruins, the Panthers broke the ice for real when Eetu Luostarinen took advantage of a turnover and beat Joonas Korpisalo with a snipe to make it 1-0 at 4:22 of the first period.

Evening the score for the Bruins, Michael Eyssimont slipped behind the defense and sent the puck through Bobrvsokys’ five-hole from the slot to make it 1-1 at 7:18.

Suffering an upper-body injury, rookie Sandis Vilmanis left the game in the first period and did not return.

Later in the game, the Panthers also lost defenseman Tobias Bjornfot to an injury.

“I think Sandis is good; I don’t think Tobi will be a player for us,” head coach Paul Maurice said. “I think we’ve got three [players] that played in tonight’s game that won’t play tomorrow.”

After a successful penalty kill, the Bruins took the lead when Eyssimont exited the box, took a stretch pass from Marat Khusnutdinov and scored in a breakaway to make it 2-1 at 12:43.

Responding just 30 seconds into the second period, Uvis Balinskis found the back of the net for the second straight game when he collected a pass from Matthew Tkachuk and buried a shot from just inside the left circle on the power play to make it 2-2.

“Uvis Balinskis has just been so good for us,” Maurice said. “That’s a credit to Uvis and to our pro scouting staff to find a guy in the Czech league at that age to come in. Now he’s running our power play and he’s been incredible for us.”

Back on the power play soon after, Tkachuk put the Panthers on top 3-2 when he followed up on his own rebound and banked in a shot off Korpisalo at 2:27. Finding a groove after making his season debut on Jan. 19, Tkachuk has scored three goals in his last four games.

Keeping the lead intact, Bobrovsky made several saves on a penalty kill late in the period.

Even with the whistles continuing to blow against them, the Panthers found a way to add to their lead on another penalty kill prior to the second intermission when Anton Lundell took a perfect dish from Sam Reinhart and beat Korpisalo off the rush to make it 4-2 at 18:33.

Named the second star of the game, Lundell finished with three points (1G, 2A).

“I just try to do my best,” said Lundell, who’s done a fantastic job helping to fill the void left by injured captain Aleksander Barkov. “We all know where we are in the standings. All we can do is try and improve our game, win as many games as we can. These games are big.”

Early in the third period, the Panthers killed off their fifth penalty of the game.

Bringing the Bruins back to within a goal, Mark Kastelic went to the blue paint, stuck out his stick and tipped a point shot from Charlie McAvoy past Bobrovsky to make it 4-3 at 7:52.

On their sixth trip to the man advantage, the Bruins finally managed to break through Florida’s penalty kill when Casey Mittelstadt potted a rebound to make it 4-4 at 10:30.

With less than five minutes left in regulation, the Panthers kill off another power play.

“The PK was great,” Bobrovsky said. “The guys fought. They had good sticks. It’s an important component of our game, and the guys stood tall for that.”

Following a thrilling but scoreless overtime, the Panthers closed out the Bruins in the shootout behind goals from Lundell and Brad Marchand, as well as three stops from Bobrovsky.

With the 5-4 win, the Panthers improved to 2-0-0 against the Bruins this season.

For a team looking for a spark, you couldn't have asked for more.

“It’s good to get the win,” Marchand said. “They (the Bruins) are playing really well right now and competing hard. It’s just unfortunate we got in a little penalty trouble there. I thought we played a good game. Special teams were really good tonight and were the difference.”

THEY SAID IT

“I think we got some incredible performances. Sam Reinhart, just so good. I think I had (Anton) Lundell at 16 minutes through two periods. Sergei Bobrovsky. (Gustav) Forsling. We had so many guys play incredibly hard.” – Paul Maurice

“It’s important to have that emotion, to have that winning feeling. It builds the chemistry and build the locker room.” – Sergei Bobrovsky

“Obviously, I want to stay healthy. That’s number one. I’m just happy to be back. I was dealing with a minor injury, but now it’s good to be back. It’s almost time to go [to the Winter Olympics], but we still have a huge game tomorrow.” – Anton Lundell

CATS STATS

- The Panthers have scored seven power play goals over the last seven games.

- Anton Lundell recorded the third three-point period of his career.

- Evan Rodrigues won 64.3% of his faceoffs.

- Gustav Forsling saw a team-high 30:48 of ice time.

- Aaron Ekblad and Niko Mikkola each blocked four shots.

- Sergei Bobrovsky made 12 high-danger saves, per NaturalStatTrick.com.

WHAT’S NEXT?

One game left before the break.

Closing out their back-to-back with a rivalry matchup, the Panthers will look to secure two more key points against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Benchmark International Arena on Thursday.

With puck drop at 7:30 p.m. ET, the watch party will be at McSorley’s in Fort Lauderdale.