Recap: Bruins end Panthers’ streak with 3-2 shootout win

The Boston Bruins battled back in the third period to force overtime and ultimately top the Florida Panthers, 3-2, in the shootout tonight at the TD Garden.

The victory ended the Panthers’ winning streak. Their season series now stands at 1-1-0.

Before the game, the Bruins paid tribute to the life of Jimmy Hayes, who was taken from us far too soon (Tribute clip taken by our dear friend CrzyCanucklehed, or Chris Abraham):

Both teams wore special jerseys in his honor. The Bruins donned the nickname “Hayesy” on the back, while the Panthers all had the No. 12 and “Broadway” on theirs.

Linus Ullmark made 33 saves to improve to 3-1-0 in his starts.

Despite a strong opening shift from the Perfection Line with Brad Marchand ringing the post, the Bruins’ first period was definitely not their best 20 minutes of hockey.

The B’s had a hard time getting clean breakouts. When they did create a rush, the Panthers’ defense was there to stop entry into the offensive zone and therefore, forced turnovers.

Neutral zone play was sloppy. Overall, the Panthers managed the puck better.

To try to build offense in the final minutes of the first, Bruce Cassidy shuffled the top two lines. Craig Smith moved up and David Pastrnak slid down.

While it looked like the Bruins would be lucky to end the first period scoreless, Charlie Coyle put the team up in the final minute of play.

The Bruins took the lead at 19:18 of the first period.

Curtis Lazar kept the puck from leaving the offensive zone. Taylor Hall picked up the loose puck to find Coyle inside the left-wing circle where he put a wrist shot top-shelf over the glove of Spencer Knight. 1-0 Bruins.

Hall recorded his 600^th career point with the assist.

The Bruins outshot the Panthers 14-13 during the frame. Coyle’s line had four shots while three came from defensemen.

The Panthers tied the game 47 seconds into the second period.

Off a long breakout pass started by Aaron Ekblad, Carter Verhaeghe found Anthony Duclair coming down the far-right side. Duclair skated into the right-wing circle, beat Derek Forbort and Charlie McAvoy in the slot and then put a wrister top-shelf over Ullmark’s blocker. 1-1 game.

The Bruins had their second power play of the night during the period and yet again, couldn’t generate any momentum. The second unit had better chances, but for the ninth chance in the past three games, neither unit was able to capitalize on the advantage. The Panthers had a shorthanded opportunity, but Ullmark made the stop.

Ullmark made 14 saves in the second and kept the Bruins in the game. He showed comfortability in his crease and ease of controlling his rebounds.

The Bruins started to generated some offense and Tomas Nosek had a chance to put the Bruins up on his five-hole on Knight. But the puck trickled on the goal line and wasn’t counted.

Erik Haula, Jake DeBrusk and Lazar probably had the best 5v5 chance during the middle frame. DeBrusk provided the framework for a nice passing play which set Lazar up in the slot.

The Bruins had more opportunities in the third, but offensive zone chances were shortchanged by overpassing.

Hall and Coyle had chemistry, but each had moments where they should have shot instead of looking for each other.

And the same sentiment echoed through the roster not only in the third, but for the game’s duration.

The Panthers scored at 7:49 of the third period, six seconds into their power play.

Aleksander Barkov won the face-off back to Ekblad who found Jonathan Huberdeau. Barkov was hit with a cross ice pass from him to beat Ullmark’s glove. 2-1 Panthers.

The Bruins answered back with their own power-play goal at 13:35 of the third period.

Marchand collected the puck along the left boards to send it over to Charlie McAvoy at the backdoor for a quick shot over Knight’s glove. 2-2 game.

The game couldn’t be settled in regulation and headed to overtime.

Both teams had a few scoring chances, but ultimately the game was settled in a shootout where Coyle netted the winner. Final: 3-2 Bruins SO win.

The Bruins are back in action on Thursday November 4 for a home game against the Detroit Red Wings.