FINAL: Bruins 3, Panthers 1 - Boston scores two in second to secure win

The Bruins defeated the Florida Panthers 3-1 on Wednesday night to improve to 14-1-3 on the season and 4-0-0 after losses. The game was very chippy all throughout and Boston scored two goals in the second period to secure the win. 

Boston got off to a slow start in the first period as they were outshot at one point 11-3 and ended the period getting outshot 15-12. Despite all of that, the B's went into the first intermission up 1-0 thanks to a goal from Charlie Coyle at the 18:35 mark. 

The Panthers tied it at one at the 10:33 mark thanks to a goal by Anton Lundell. The B's answered back at the 11:14 mark with a goal from Johnny Beecher to make it 2-1. Boston added an insurance goal later in the period at the 14:19 mark from Jake DeBrusk. 

The third period saw no goals scored, but the Bruins closed out the period without any damage and will return to TD Garden on Friday coming off a convincing win versus a really good Florida team. “We were really good on the rush defense,” Jim Montgomery said of his team’s third-period performance. “We had a lot of numbers back, we were putting bodies on bodies and we had a little bit of time to make good breakout plays,” Montgomery continued. 

Limus Ullmark finished the night in net with 27 saves and is now 7-1-1 on the season. 

The Bruins will be back in action on Friday at TD Garden to face the Detroit Red Wings with face off set for 1p.m. 

WHAT I LIKED:

• The B's did a good job in the third period closing the game out against a good team on the road.
• Boston fought back against a physical Florida team in a very chippy game. 
• Ullmark had a really solid game and the Bruins' goalie depth continues to impress. 

_______________________

WHO: Bruins (13-1-3) at Panthers (12-5-1)
WHEN: 7p.m.
WHERE: Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise.
TV: TNT
RADIO: 98.5-FM The Sports Hub
LIVE BOX SCORE
ROSTERS

PREDICTED LINES

BOSTON
Marchand-Zacha-Pastrnak
Van Riemsdyk-Coyle-Frederic
Heinen-Poitras-DeBrusk
Lauko-Beecher-Brown

Lohrei-McAvoy
Lindholm-Carlo
Forbort-Shattenkirk

Ullmark

PANTHERS 
Luostarinen - Lundell - Reinhart
Verhaeghe - Bennett - Tkachuk
Rodrigues - Stenlund - Cousins
Gadjovich - Lorentz - Lomberg

Forsling - Ekblad
Mikkola - Montour
OEL - Kulikov
Reilly - Balinskis

Bobrovsky
Stolarz

PREGAME NOTES

The Bruins continue their road trip in Florida tonight facing the Florida Panthers in a rematch of the first round of the NHL playoffs last year. Florida defeated Boston 3-2 in their first meeting this year back on October 30th. 

The B's are coming off a 5-4 heartbreaking overtime loss Monday night to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Jim Montgomery will be coaching his 100th game for the Bruins tonight. Montgomery has the team's all-time winning percentage at .828. James Van Riemsdyk is one assist shy of his 300th career assist, Charlie McAvoy is one assist shy of his 200th NHL assist. Matt Grzelcyk remains out of the lineup, but will be eligible to return on Friday versus the Detroit Red Wings. 

Boston is facing a Florida team that enters tonight on a two-game winning streak. The Panthers average 33.8 shots on goal per game, good for the fifth most among  NHL teams. 

Florida has an 8-2 record so far in the month of November, leading the league as of the games through November 21st. The Panthers sit in second place in the Atlantic Division and fourth in the entire league. Florida have also won each of their last six home games on home ice, sitting at 7-1-0 at Amerant Bank Arena this season.

The Panthers and the New Jersey Devils are the only two teams that have not surrendered more than 35 shots against in game action this season. 

Aleksander Barkov is one assist away from recording number 400, and Mike Reilly is two points away from 100 for his career.