bruinsms17-e1552040570308Photo Courtesy Of Boston Herald

By: Garrett Haydon | Follow Me On Twitter @thesportsguy97

Pre-Game Notes

Arena: TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts

Home: Boston Bruins (47-21-9)

Away: Florida Panthers (34-32-12)

Boston’s Lineup

Forwards

Marchand-Bergeron-Johansson

DeBrusk-Krejci-Pastrnak

Heinen-Coyle-Wagner

Nordstrom-Acciari-Backes

Defense

Chara-McAvoy

Krug-Carlo

Grzelcyk-Clifton

Goalies

Rask

Halak

Florida’s Lineup

Forwards

Huberdeau-Barkov-Dadonov

Hoffman-Trocheck-Hawryluk

Sceviour-Borgstrom-Vatrano

Hunt-Sheahan-Brouwer

Defense

Yandle-Ekblad

Pysyk-Brown

Weegar-Matheson

Goalies

Luongo

Montembeault

First Period

Prior to puck drop, Chris Wagner received the Seventh Player Award for his solid work this season in his first year in black and gold.

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It was apparent that both teams had their skating games ready to go in the early moments of the game as they each got a few chances. The Bruins seemed to move the puck better in the opening moments of the period but weren’t able to solve Roberto Luongo. While the B’s weren’t able to find the back of the net they did put a lot of pressure on the Panthers by forcing a bunch of turnovers in the neutral zone.

The B’s continued to get shots on goal and at one point held an 11-2 advantage in that category. The Bruins would go to the penalty kill as Jake DeBrusk was called for tripping with about eight minutes left in the period. The B’s killed off the penalty as the Panthers failed to gain an offensive rhythm on the man advantage. Immediately following the power play, Riley Sheahan had the puck go in off of his body to give Florida the 1-0 lead.

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The Panthers doubled their lead as Evgenii Dadonov buried a rebound in front of Tuukka Rask for his 27th of the season with under five minutes left in the period.

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The Bruins responded with a couple of great shifts but Luongo and the Florida defense came up huge to maintain the two goal advantage.

Score: 2-0 Panthers

Second Period

The Bruins nearly cut the lead in half in first moments of the period but DeBrusk hit the post after an incredible feed from David Krejci from behind the net. The B’s continued to move the puck very well in the second period as they looked to get back into the game but Luongo continued to be sharp. The B’s skating game was very strong in the middle period as the flow of play continued to be in their favor.

The B’s continued to give the Panthers fits in their own zone but couldn’t find many good scoring chances as they attempted to cut the lead in half. Noel Acciari did just that with an incredible effort in front as he knocked in a loose puck past Luongo.

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The Bruins picked up their first power play of the day as Jonathan Huberdeau went off for interference as Boston looked to tie the game. Troy Brouwer fired home a wicked wrist shot while shorthanded to double the Florida lead yet again.

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The Bruins got their second power play of the game as Sheahan went to the box for slashing with over two minutes remaining in the period. The Panthers killed off the penalty as the B’s got a few chances in the offensive zone but it remained a two goal deficit.

Score: 3-1 Panthers

Third Period

The Bruins continued to have success in the Florida end in the early stages of the final period but still were unable to cut into the lead. Both Charlie McAvoy and Brad Marchand got back to back great scoring chances but couldn’t solve Luongo who stood tall. The Panthers responded with a couple solid shifts as they looked to extend their advantage. The Bruins continued to dominate in the offensive zone but had nothing to show for it almost midway through the third period.

The Panthers continued to turn the puck over a ton in the final period as the Bruins did a good job to create them but just weren’t able to convert them into goals. Rask was busier in the third period and did a good job to keep the Bruins in the game as the clock started to become a factor.

The Panthers finally began to play well defensively as the game drew to a close as they sensed the desperation from the Bruins. Rask went to the bench with about three minutes to play. Dadonov iced the game with an empty net goal with 2:19 to go, his second of the game.

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Final Score: 4-1 Panthers

Three Stars Of The Game

First Star: Luongo. The veteran goaltender was at his very best in this one as he turned back every shot except for the Acciari goal in the second period.

Second Star: Dadonov. The Florida winger had a solid effort with two goals as the Panthers scored a big win against the B’s.

Third Star: Acciari. The fourth line grinder had another solid game as he added a goal to go along with a couple of nice hits.

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