BSJ Game Report: Bruins 7, Panthers 3 - Bergeron, D corps push B’s past Florida

Everything you need to know from the Bruins’ 7-3 win over the Panthers with BSJ insight and analysis:

BOX SCORE

HEADLINES

After four-goal outburst, Bruins flirt with disaster:  In what has been a recurring trend during this five-game homestand, the Bruins once again collected a few more points in the standings (3-0-1), but the manner in which Boston went about its business in its 7-3 win over Florida led to many elevated heart rates at Boston’s barn.

At the outset of Monday’s matchup at TD Garden, the Bruins looked like they were in line for their first 0-to-60 dominant showing in some time, burying four goals past Spencer Knight and the Panthers over the span of just 10:47 of game action. 

But after building themselves a comfortable lead early in the second frame, the Bruins fell into the same woes that plagued them last week — with the B’s making an easy two points an arduous affair due to self-inflicted miscues and lapses in execution. 

Granted, the Panthers are far from a tomato-can opponent and a pushback was inevitable. But a B’s team that prides itself on a stingy, structured defensive identity completed folded for extended stretches in the second period — with Florida reeling off three goals in a row in just 5:20 to turn a potential laugher into yet another nail-biter. 

Ultimately, the B’s were bailed out due to a shaky showing from Knight down the other end of the ice, with David Krejci and Patrice Bergeron (twice) once again giving the B’s a cushion with tallies in the second and third to put this one out of reach. 

Still, whether it be that second-period implosion in their own zone or relinquishing 39 shots to the Panthers, this was far from a sterling showing from the B’s in what should be an area of strength for this roster, night in and night out. 

A win’s a win. But there’s still plenty to fine-tune in the days ahead. 

Bruins D pace attack: Of course, while it was far from a perfect showing from Boston in the defensive zone, Boston’s blueliners played an integral part in the B’s offensive salvos against Knight on Monday night. 

After B’s defense only accounted for two goals over the previous 14 games, both Connor Clifton and Brandon Carlo opened the scoring for Boston off of assertive plays in the O-zone — with Clifton completing a wraparound strike and Carlo finding twine in transition. 

A few top-six stalwarts like Patrice Bergeron (two goals, two assists) and Brad Marchand (three assists) once again paced Boston’s scoring output — but Boston’s D corps closed out the game with a combined six points. Encouraging stuff from an area of the roster that does have more to give in terms of offensive generation. 

Craig Smith clears waivers, returns to the lineup

Despite being placed on waivers Sunday afternoon, not a whole lot changed for Craig Smith and the Bruins on Monday – with the veteran winger clearing waivers and returning to his usual spot on the fourth line for Monday’s matchup.

"First of all, the roster manipulation is something that we needed to do, just a safe card and cap situations," Jim Montgomery said of Smith Monday morning. "All I know is working with Don Sweeney, when he says this what we need to do, I know he's done his homework and I listen to him thoroughly about anything like that.  "Smitty played one of his best games of the year last game. We're not expecting to make any changes to the lineup tonight. We have to be patient on that because of the waiver process."

While Smith could have been an appealing option for a team hoping that his shot-first mentality would pay dividends in their middle-six grouping, his hefty base salary ($4.3 million) likely made plenty of interested parties balk at prying him from Boston — with the B’s likely having to throw in a sweetener in a trade in order to move Smith’s contract off the books at some point this year.

With Smith clearing waivers, the Bruins kept him in the lineup on Monday, with the forward logging 10:33 of ice time. Smith can now remain on the NHL roster for 10 games (nine now) or 30 days without having to clear waivers again. 

FOUR UP

Brandon Carlo: Carlo has actually been stringing together some strong games for a couple of weeks now, but it was good to see the veteran blueliner finally get rewarded with his first goal since April 5, 2022. A sweet feed from Marchand, but a nice heads-up play by Carlo to join the rush and bury his chance. 

Patrice Bergeron: Bergeron gave the B’s some much-needed insurance in this one, scoring two goals in the third period to snuff out any chance of a Panthers rally in this one. Bergeron finished with four points in the win. 

Connor Clifton: Montgomery had plenty of praise for Clifton postgame, noting that the physical blueliner put forth arguably his best game in weeks against the Panthers. Along with his wraparound tally to open the scoring for Boston at 10:51 in the first, Clifton logged 18:09 of ice time and was assertive with the puck on his stick. 

Linus Ullmark: It wasn’t exactly the sharpest night for Ullmark, who likely wants back Eric Staal’s second-period tally. Still, Ullmark stepped up in the third to stave off the Panthers, turning aside all 11 shots that came his way in the final frame en route to a 36-save performance.

TWO DOWN

D-zone structure: Whether it be Boston failing to slow down Florida’s skaters at the blue line, mishandled pucks, losing netfront battles and even a few lapses from Ullmark, Boston made things way too easy for a high-powered offense like Florida in the second period. 

Physicality: Hits can be a bit of a misguided statistic to harp on when glancing over the final box score, but the eye test did show that Boston was largely knocked around by Panthers for extended stretches of the game — with the B’s only logging five hits through the first two periods of action. 

PLAY OF THE GAME

LOOSE PUCKS

I’ve seen a lot transpire here at TD Garden from my perch on the ninth floor. But this might have been the most uncomfortable thing I’ve ever seen in Boston’s barn.

LOOKING AHEAD

The Bruins will close out their five-game homestand on Thursday when they welcome the Winnipeg Jets at TD Garden. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.