Bruins defeat Panthers, regain first place in Atlantic

BOSTON -- The Boston Bruins moved back into to first place in the Atlantic Division with a 5-1 win against the Florida Panthers at TD Garden on Saturday.
The Bruins (49-17-11) lead the division and the Eastern Conference by one point over the Tampa Bay Lightning with one game in hand.

\[WATCH: All Panthers vs. Bruins highlights\]
The Panthers (39-30-8), who have lost three straight, remained three points behind the New Jersey Devils for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the East; the Devils hosted the New York Islanders on Saturday.
"We want to make the playoffs and it just seems like we're not playing with enough emotion, enough swagger like we want to win," Florida forward Vincent Trocheck said. "Obviously you're not going to get into the playoffs playing like that."
The line of Jake DeBrusk (two goals, one assist), Ryan Donato (one goal, one assist) and David Krejci (three assists) combined for eight points for the Bruins, who have won two in a row and have an eight-game point streak (5-0-3). Tuukka Rask made 30 saves and is 10-0-1 in his past 11 starts.

"Just trying to get chemistry," DeBrusk said. "I've been with [Krejci] for most of the year and we've had [Ryan] Spooner there, Rick Nash there, and now Donato. We're just trying to talk out there, communicate, and try and make the game easier. It was nice to be a part of a winning effort and being able to contribute."
Jamie McGinn put the Panthers ahead 1-0 at 4:59 of the first period with a shot from the right side of the slot. Nick Holden tied it 1-1 with a tip-in after a backdoor drive to the net and a cross-ice pass from Krejci at 11:15. Krejci skated to the top of the right circle and spun the pass to the front of the net without looking.
"The way they play their [defensive] zone, they're man on man. We had talked about it before, just create motion and [Krejci] was going up the wall and Adam [McQuaid] was sliding to the middle," Holden said. "So I just took the wide side and luckily their forward was kind of sleeping a little bit and [Krejci] made an unbelievable pass."
DeBrusk scored at 14:06 for a 2-1 lead after a pass from behind the net by Donato, whose goal from the high slot 1:32 into the second period made it 3-1.

Patrice Bergeron scored a power-play goal at 13:40 of the second to make it 4-1, and DeBrusk scored his second goal at 16:32 to extend the lead to 5-1.
Florida goaltender James Reimer was pulled in the second period after allowing five goals on 24 shots. Roberto Luongo made nine saves in relief.
"I didn't think we played our game," Trocheck said. "I didn't think we played nearly well enough to be a team like that. I didn't think we played like a playoff team. Extremely disappointed, obviously."

Goal of the game

DeBrusk's goal at 14:06 of the first period.

Save of the game

Rask's save on Trocheck at 17:36 of the second period.

Highlight of the game

Holden's goal at 11:15 of the first period.

They said it

"We put ourselves in a bit of a hole after this road trip. There's two teams playing hard for the last spot right now. We've just got to go home, where it's been good for us. We've played really well in our building. We've just got to get back on track on Monday."-- Panthers coach Bob Boughner on a 1-2-1 road trip
"I liked it. I think most people liked it. I thought they had a good chemistry, they were feeding off each other. Krejci obviously, I think him and Jake have had real good chemistry. It's the one consistent for the most part that [Krejci] has had. It was a pretty good line in terms of puck possession, making plays, they each complement each other. So we'll see how it goes."-- Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy on the line of David Krejci centering Jake DeBrusk and Ryan Donato

Need to know

The Bruins fell into second place when the Lightning defeated the New York Rangers 7-3 on Friday. Boston moved into first place Thursday with a 4-2 win against the Tampa Bay, which had been in first since Oct 19. ... Reimer played his 300th NHL game. ... Florida forward Colton Sceviour left the game after blocking a shot in the second period. ... Florida defenseman Keith Yandle, who had an assist on McGinn's goal, has a five-game point streak (one goal, five assists). ... Boston forward David Pastrnak got his 200th NHL point (91 goals, 109 assists) with an assist on Bergeron's goal. ... Boston center Riley Nash was hit in the head with a shot in the second period and did not return. Defenseman Brandon Carlo left in the third period on a stretcher with an undisclosed injury.

What's next

Panthers: Host the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday (7:30 p.m. ET; FS-F, FS-CR, NHL.TV)
Bruins:At the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday (12:30 p.m. ET; NBC, TVAS, NHL.TV)