RECAP: Bruins 3, Panthers 2 (OT)

BOSTON – Even in defeat, the Florida Panthers are heading home feeling good about their game.

Picking up a point in their final road game of the regular season, they brought both energy and intensity during a very tight 3-2 overtime loss to the Bruins at TD Garden on Saturday.

With four games left in the season and their playoff spot already locked up, the Panthers (48-24-6) now trail the Bruins (46-17-15) by five points for first place in the Atlantic Division.

Battling through both injuries to key players and no shortage of adversity, this game marked the 10^th in 17 days for the Panthers, a hard stretch they believe they actually benefited from.

“It was good for us,” Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said. “We defined some things. We got our focus narrowed down to be good at two or three things. We have been in the last two or three games. It’s driven the rest of our game.”

Putting the Panthers on top before many fans even had time to get to their seats, Matthew Tkachuk grabbed the puck after a dump-in from Vladimir Tarasenko and ripped a shot past Linus Ullmark from the slot to make it 1-0 just 37 seconds into the first period.

Evening the score for the Bruins, Charlie McAvoy found some open ice in the high slot, took a pass from Danton Heinen and fired a shot past Sergei Bobrovsky’s glove to make it 1-1 at 5:42. In four games against the Panthers this season, McAvoy has lit the lamp three times.

Soon after, the Panthers killed off three power plays in a short period of time.

Sharp on the penalty kill, they surrendered just four shots on goal in those six minutes.

“We can’t be killing so many penalties per game,” Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov said. “Other than that, I think our effort is there and our intensity is there. Guys are making plays and having fun again.”

Not long after officials opted not to call a high stick against the Bruins, the Panthers suddenly found themselves on a penalty kill again late in the second period after an interference penalty. Capitalizing on the man advantage, Charlie Coyle scored to make it 2-1 at 15:45.

With the action at 4-on-4 in the third period, the Panthers pulled even once again when Barkov, pushing his point streak to seven games, followed up on a shot from Sam Reinhart and fired the rebound past Ullmark from the left side of the cage to make it 2-2 at 5:24.

Helping the Panthers get to overtime, Bobrovsky made a game-saving stop with under a minute left when he kicked out his left pad to rob Brad Marchand of a potential game-winning goal.

Shades of last year’s playoffs, no?

“We always feel good about our goalies,” Barkov said of Bobrovsky, who made six high-danger saves in Boston. “They’re our best players. They keep us in the games. Every game they give us a chance to win. We’re really lucky and thankful to have them.”

Despite not finding the third goal they needed, the Panthers were simply dominant over the final 20 minutes of regulation, leading 26-8 in shot attempts and 14-2 in scoring chances, according to NaturalStatTrick.com.

At 2:05 of overtime, Jesper Boqvist provided the heroics for the home team when he swiped a puck in the neutral zone, skated in all alone and picked a corner to lock in the 3-2 win for the Bruins.

Overall, a really encouraging effort heading into the final stretch.

“I like the way we played,” Maurice said. “I like that we got better in the third period. We had nothing in the tank to do that, but they pushed through. Disappointed with the result, but real happy with the effort.”

THEY SAID IT

“I’m pretty with how we came to play today. Last game was already better after the couple bad ones before that. We have a good confidence in the group. Those games are the best. Two good teams against each other. It was fun.” – Niko Mikkola

“I think our effort was really good. They got the lead there, but we just stuck with it. We played how we wanted to play. Bob was really good in the net. You want to win these games, but we came up short today.” – Aleksander Barkov

“I thought we did a really good job with our focus there with all the penalties. It was a challenge for us, for sure.” – Paul Maurice

CATS STATS

- The Panthers scored their fourth goal in the opening minute of a game this season.

- Anton Lundell went 7-for-11 (63.6%) of his faceoffs.

- Sam Bennett recorded a team-high seven hits.

- Three different Panthers notched multiple blocked shots.

- The Panthers led 48-28 in shot attempts at 5-on-5.

- The Panthers surrendered just 12 scoring chances at 5-on-5.

WHAT’S NEXT?

We’re almost to the finish line.

With just one four-game homestand standing in the way of the Panthers and the playoffs, they’ll kick things off by hosting the Ottawa Senators at Amerant Bank Arena on Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET.

For tickets, click HERE.