Panthers 5, Bruins 4 (SO)

 

Kryptonite is still kryptonite, and even though the Bruins went into last night's game, 32-20-4, and the Panthers, 28-24-3, Florida continues to be Boston's kryptonite team and won the match in the OT shootout, 5-4. 

Worse, a Panthers' forward hit Charlie McAvoy (BU, 2016) midway through the first period with a cheap-shot, leaping elbow to the head that forced McAvoy to leave the ice. Still wearing a full face shield from a a broken jaw he suffered in December, McAvoy returned to the game and played 22:05 more minutes.

Michael Eyssimont scored twice in that first period to give the Bruins a 2-1 lead, but the Panthers responded with three unanswered goals in the second.  Kastelic and Mittelstadt scored in the third to tie the game up, but no one scored in the OT.  Viktor Arvidsson scored a shoot-out goal in the first attempt, but was matched by a Florida goal. Fittingly, the game ended when former Bruin Brad Marchand hit a shoot-out goal on the sixth shot of the period, and Mittelstadt's last attempt was stopped.

With the shootout loss, the Bruins add a digit to the end of their season record and are now 32-20-5, fifth in the Atlantic. They're still in the running for the last Wild Card spot, four points up on the next contender, Columbus.

The Bruins, along with the rest of the NHL, will take two weeks off so players can compete in the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan. They'll return to action February 26 to play Columbus and protect their Wild Card lead.