The Boston Bruins fell to the Florida Panthers on Wednesday, as the undefeated Panthers continued their hot streak thanks to their defense and ability to capitalize on scoring chances.
Though the Panthers had four fewer shots on the final box score, they still came away with three more goals than the Bruins.
The first two Florida goals came from beautiful passes via Sam Reinhart. Reinhart’s first assist came when he was surrounded by three Bruins and slipped the puck back to Mason Marchment for a snap shot goal. His second went to Luostarinen on a one-timer pass that caught Connor Clifton off guard. Reinhart’s two assists gave him five on the year which keeps his season total at seven points.
Charlie Coyle scored the first goal of the game and the last for the Bruins. Coyle’s goal scored halfway through the first period, came on a freak accident from Tippett who had the puck knocked off his body and into the net.
The Florida victory also had a lot to do with Sergei Bobrovsky. Bobrovsky had his second 30-save, .968 save percentage game in six days. On October 21, he put up an identical stat line against the Colorado Avalanche. This season, the Russian netminder has been living up to his $10 million contract. He has a .946 save percentage this season and a 1.78 GAA.
On the other side of the ice, Linus Ullmark put up his second consecutive game with a .885 save percentage. Neither performance showed stellar goalie play from Ullmark who faced just 26 shots in both contests. In the ex-Sabre’s Bruins debut, against the Sabres, he played very well, stopping 35-of-36 shots. The Bruins hope that Ullmark can get back to dominating like that again, but he still sits at a respectable .920 save percentage.
Though the only Bruin goal came from an accident by a Florida defender, the offense certainly had chances to score. David Pastrnak put six shots on net, Coyle had five and Jake DeBrusk, as well as Trent Frederic, had four shots each. The problem wasn’t getting pucks on net, the problem was getting pucks IN the net.
The second game on the Bruins’ road trip will take place in Raleigh, NC as they take on their second undefeated hockey team in as many days. The game looks to be very important since the Bruins are currently sitting at sixth place in the Atlantic division at 3-2. Puck drop will be 7:00 p.m. EST tomorrow between the Bruins and Hurricanes and it can be watched on ESPN+.