BSJ Game Report: Bruins 3, Panthers 2 (SO) - B’s rally late, deal Florida 1st loss in shootout

Everything you need to know from the Bruins’ 3-2 shootout win over the Panthers with BSJ insight and analysis:

Box Score

SHORT SHIFT

A return to the friendly confines of TD Garden proved fruitful for the Bruins on Saturday night — as Boston rallied late against the Panthers before eventually outlasting them in a shootout, 3-2. 

Charlie Coyle scored in regulation and potted the eventual game-winner in the shootout, while Charlie McAvoy forced extra play off of a power-play tally at 13:35 in the third. Linus Ullmark stopped 33 of the 35 shots that came his way in the win for the Bruins — who improved to 4-3-0 on the season. 

TOP TAKEAWAYS

Cassidy splits up top line 

After a brutal opening stretch in which the Bruins were outshot, 5-2, in just 4:22 of their 5v5 ice time — the Marchand-Bergeron-Pastrnak line was split up, with Bruce Cassidy swapping Pastrnak and Craig Smith in the top six. 

The results didn’t give way to much in terms of the score sheet or overall puck possession — with Boston holding a 3-3 draw in shots on goal during Marchand-Bergeron-Smith’s 8:48 of 5v5 ice time and trailing in shots, 8-5, in Hall-Coyle-Pastrnak’s 9:31 of 5v5 reps.

Still, Cassidy believed that adding a more assertive forechecker in Smith to the top line did allow the Bruins to limit the number of blown shifts in which poor puck management had them killing time outside of the offensive zone.  

"I just thought we were mismanaging pucks in the neutral zone,” Cassidy said. “Marsh was early on and we talked about it. He did a really good job of getting himself back under control and playing behind their D, trying to establish the way we wanted to play, because they were doing a good job in the neutral zone. 

“So it wasn't necessarily anything Pasta (did) — just the line has been a little bit quiet or snakebitten lately. So you try things to get more of a forechecking presence on there with Smitty — a guy that they know will go work and get pucks, because I thought that was the way we needed to play tonight.”

Of course, this is far from the first time that we’ve seen Cassidy bump Pastrnak off of that top line in search of a spark. So we won’t put too much stock into a shuffle like this until the B’s commit to it over a full contest. 

Two points are still two points

Some of the flaws that plagued this club earlier this week remained against arguably the top team in the NHL on Saturday. Secondary scoring remains an issue, these current D pairings require further tweaking and the lack of tangible production from some of the B’s big guns is becoming a bit of a trend.

But looking through the lens of just this one game, the Bruins will be more than happy to get off the Garden ice with two points secured in the standings, especially against a team like this. 

And even though there are sometimes only so many positives you can draw from a victory achieved via shootout, the manner in which the B’s got to extra time — rallying back in the third via that McAvoy power-play tally — should make this upcoming four-day stretch of inaction much easier to navigate.

"I think it's important — you don't want to get those losing streaks that start to pile up. Good opponents this week. If you want to be considered a good team, you got to beat good teams," Cassidy said. "I thought these games were close this week — didn't go our way. We didn't do the right things at the right time. Carolina and Florida did earlier.

"It was just getting really hard to score. Sometimes it'll get away from you if you're not careful. You'll lose your structure and try to cheat, so credit to the guys. ...You don't want the game to get away from you. All of a sudden, we have a long week of practice and guys are squeezing their sticks on Thursday. At least this allows you to loosen up a little bit and take the good and keep working on our offense. Obviously, we need more, but we still think some of it is we're having some real tough luck around the net that'll eventually change if we get a shooting mentality."

THREE UP

Charlie Coyle: With his first-period tally, Coyle is now up to three goals and five total points through the first seven games of this season. It took him 16 games to reach that same scoring benchmark last year. Add in the shootout winner, and the Weymouth native is seeing some of his O-zone efforts being rewarded after a frustrating 2020-21 campaign.

Linus Ullmark: Cassidy gave his netminder high marks after his 33-save performance, noting that Ullmark is starting to cut down on some of the rebound issues that plagued him during his first few outings in a black-and-gold sweater.

Charlie McAvoy: After a bit of a rough start next to Derek Forbort, McAvoy helped key Boston’s third-period rally. Shortly after Boston relinquished the lead off of an Aleksander Barkov power-play strike, McAvoy woke up the subdued Garden crowd with a thunderous hit against Eetu Luostarinen before adding the equalizer on the man advantage minutes later.  

TWO DOWN

Derek Forbort: Forbort might have been signed this season for his stay-at-home snarl and defensive acumen, but he didn’t showcase it on Anthony Duclair’s second-period strike. 

63-37-88 line: Cassidy may not be hitting the panic button quite yet, but Boston’s tried-and-true top line has really struggled to string together strong shifts over the last couple of games. Some of it is likely a byproduct of the quality of competition going up against them, but the Bergeron line’s limited 5v5 reps on Saturday were stuffed with a number of self-inflicted miscues.

PLAY OF THE GAME

LOOSE PUCKS

Happy Halloween, folks.

QUOTE OF NOTE

“All part of the Halloween costume” - Charlie Coyle after taking a puck off the visor during the second period. 

LOOKING AHEAD

The Bruins will not return to the Garden ice until Thursday — with Boston set to host the Red Wings. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.