It was a comeback for the ages for the Florida Panthers on Tuesday evening. Trailing the Boston Bruins 4-0 after two periods of play at the Toronto Dominion Garden, the Panthers stormed back with four third period goals and then a shootout winner by Mike Hoffman.
This is a type of win that could give the Panthers an immense amount of confidence as the National Hockey League regular season progresses. To be able to comeback against an excellent Boston Bruins squad that went to the 2019 Stanley Cup Finals and record two points in a very difficult building was extremely impressive.
After a first period without any goals, the Bruins scored all four of their goals in the second period. That is when David Pastrnak, Joakim Nordstrom, Anders Bjork of Mequon, WI and Zdeno Chara all beat Sergei Bobrovsky for a 4-0 Boston lead.
For the third period, the Panthers made a goaltending change as Samuel Montembeault came into relief for Bobrovsky and was sensational. He made 15 saves on 15 shot attempts by Boston and then three more saves in the shootout.
Offensively, the Panthers scored four third period goals. Aaron Ekblad, Frank Vatrano of East Longmeadow, MA, Mike Hoffman and Keith Yandle of Boston, MA all scored on Tuukka Rask. Interestingly, Vatrano and Yandle both scored key Panthers goals in their home state of Massachusetts. Yandle’s game tying goal came with 1:39 left in the third period to tie the score at four goals apiece. It was also a strong period for Panthers center Jonathan Huberdeau, who notched three assists.
In the shootout, the Panthers got goals from Vincent Trocheck and Hoffman. The Bruins got one goal from Charlie Coyle of East Weymouth, MA.
The Panthers are now in a second place tie in the Atlantic Division with the Montreal Canadiens. Both teams have 23 points. The Bruins still lead the Atlantic Division with 26 points.
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