RECAP: Panthers 4, Bruins 3

BOSTON – The Cats got back to their game.

Despite missing Aleksander Barkov (upper body) and Matthew Tkachuk (illness), the Florida Panthers clawed their way to a 4-3 win over the Boston Bruins at TD Garden on Monday.

In the win, the Panthers surrendered just 13 scoring chances at 5-on-5.

“Most importantly, we were able to change our game,” head coach Paul Maurice said. “We didn’t like our last game. Whether you win or lose, you have to aspire to look the same way every night if you can. We were back to looking the way we should look”

Improving to 2-2-0, the Panthers have beaten the Bruins twice already this season.

“It was a very big game for us,” goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky said. “It’s an important game and an important win. I thought the guys worked very hard for each other. We have key guys out. I thought the guys did a good job to compete for each other.”

Applying a lot of pressure in their own barn early in the first period, the Bruins broke the ice when Johnny Beecher tipped a shot past Bobrovsky to make it 1-0 at 4:53.

With play at 4-on-4, the Panthers pulled even when Anton Lundell intercepted a pass behind Boston’s net and slipped the puck through Jeremy Swayman’s pads from the right side of the cage to make it 1-1 at 6:37.

As you’d expect when these two teams get together, tempers also flared early.

At 11:23, A.J. Greer, who also dropped the gloves against Boston in the season opener, went toe-to-toe with Pavel Zacha and landed a few big blows. At 11:45, Charlie McAvoy gave Carter Verhaeghe a few cross-checks and send the Panthers to the man advantage.

On the ensuing power play, the Panthers took the lead when Sam Reinhart, skating the 700^th game of his NHL career, found plenty of ice in the left circle to work with and fired a shot past Swayman and into the twine to make it 2-1 at 11:51.

“I think it was an important effort to try and get back to our game early,” Reinhart said.

In the second period, the Bruins evened the score when Brandon Carlo fired a shot through traffic and into the cage from just inside the top of the right circle to make it 2-2 at 5:08.

Netting his second shorthanded goal just four games into the season – both of them coming again the Bruins – Reinhart regained the lead for the Panthers when the stripped the puck on the penalty kill, carried it down the ice and scored to make it 3-2 at 9:39.

Joining Reinhart in the two-goal club, Lundell lit the lamp a second time when he beat Swayman with a far-side snipe from the right circle to make it 4-2 at 12:59. Just over a minute later, Mason Lohrei answered with a goal from the Bruins to make it 4-3 at 14:07.

“They were absolutely fantastic,” Maurice said of the line of Lundell, Reinhart and Eetu Luostarinen. “The absolute maturation of Anton. They scored the goals, both those guys, that are certainly worthy of the highlight, but the win came in all the other parts of it.”

Keeping the lead intact in the third period, Bobrovsky denied Zacha on a golden opportunity from the left circle at 13:16. With less than nine minutes left on the clock, the Panthers came up big on the penalty kill, surrendering just two shots on goal to Boston’s power play.

At one point late in the third, the Panthers survived a more than two-minute stretch where the Bruins held the zone before they finally got a clutch clear after some very crucial plays.

“We protected the middle of the ice very well,” Bobrovsky said. “There were a couple blocked shots, good stick. It was resilience. The compete and fight for each other was outstanding.”

With 49.4 seconds left, the Bruins essentially ended any hope they had of a comeback when David Pastrnak, who'd already been penalized for a cheap shot on Reinhart earlier in the game, slashed Verhaeghe to send the Panthers to the power play.

After that, the Panthers didn’t even let the puck out of Boston’s zone until only a few seconds remained.

“I think we played really good as a team today,” Lundell said. “We know we have Barky and Chucky away. You can’t make any excuses. We have to be able to win without some guys in the lineup. I think today was a really good team effort from everybody. We really battled through this game.”

THEY SAID IT

“It wasn’t smooth, it wasn’t easy, and it wasn’t pretty. That’s pretty much how we play.” – Paul Maurice

“The big guys played big. That’s important. The young guys played their role, too. It’s the beginning of the season, but those points are so important for us.” – Sergei Bobrovsky

“You guys have had a front-row seat since the start of the playoffs last year. He’s (Anton Lundell) just elevated his intensity, his compete level. He’s coming out with the puck almost every time. It’s easy to forget with the big situations he’s been put in his career that he’s still so young. To see him kind of learn and adapt that quick is pretty incredible.” – Sam Reinhart

“Today, we just tried to speed it up and go as fast as we can.” – Anton Lundell

CATS STATS

- Sam Reinhart is just the third player in franchise history to score a power-play goal and a shorthanded goal in the same game.

- Anton Lundell went 9-for-13 (69.2%) in the faceoff circle.

- Jonah Gadjovich led the Panthers with seven hits.

- Sam Bennett fired off a team-leading six shots on goal.

- Adam Boqvist posted a team-high 66.67 CF% at 5-on-5.

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

WHAT’S NEXT?

It’s three down and one to go on this season-opening road trip.

Closing out their four-game journey on the second half of a back-to-back, the Panthers will face off against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena on Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET.

To watch with Panthers Plus, visit FloridaPanthers.com/HowToWatch.