Recap: Bruins remain undefeated with 5-3 win over Panthers

The Boston Bruins defeated the Florida Panthers, 5-3, tonight at the TD Garden and improve to 3-0-0 in the early 2022-23 season.

Jake DeBrusk added a pair of goals on his birthday night and the force behind the Bruins’ go-ahead goal in the second period.

Linus Ullmark made 38 saves on 41 shots faced.

The undefeated Bruins lead the Atlantic Division with six points (still nice to say, even if it’s only three games in)

Here are the highlights!

First period:

The Bruins opened the scoring 21 seconds into the first period.

DeBrusk beat Gustav Forsling to puck in the neutral zone to forward himself a short pass. He carried the puck into the right-wing circle where he fired a wrist shot over Sergei Bobrovsky’s blocker. 1-0 Bruins.

Second period:

The Panthers evened the game at 4:32 of the second period.

Matthew Tkachuk found Sam Bennett crashing the net where at the top of the paint, he slid a low goal past Ullmark’s right skate. 1-1 tie game.

The Bruins took the lead at 12:35 of the second period.

DeBrusk put on the jets and won a puck race to send a backhanded centering pass out front that Patrice Bergeron found and he put a shot past Bobrovsky. 2-1 Bruins.

Third period:

The Bruins took a two-goal lead at 7:01 of the third period.

After Bergeron fed him a pass, David Pastrnak deked out Marc Staal, advancing the puck through his legs and then proceeding to also go five-hole on Bobrovsky. 3-1 Bruins.

The Bruins cushioned their lead at 12:31 of the third period.

A.J. Greer got the puck over to Trent Frederic behind the net who wrapped the puck around and snuck a shot past Bobrovsky. 4-1 Bruins.

The Panthers answered back at 12:58 of the third period.

Colin White sent a pass back to Forsling at the right point who fired a long shot on net that beat Ullmark under the crossbar. 4-2 game.

The Panthers closed the gap with a goal at 18:23 of the third period.

Forsling sent a shot through traffic out front that Bennett got a piece off. White picked up the loose puck in the paint to make it a one-goal game. 4-3 game.

DeBrusk added his second goal of the night with an empty-net goal at 18:58 of the third period to make the final score, 5-3 Bruins.

Game notes:

• The Bruins have now scored at least five goals in their first three starts of the season. Twelve different players have registered at least one goal. Four players already have two goals in only three games into this season.
• Tonight’s game wasn’t perfect. But that’s something to be expected, Head Coach Jim Montgomery said in his postgame press conference. He thought the team was slower moving the puck than in the previous two games and that both sides showed some sloppiness that’s usually apparent during the beginning of a season.
• This was Jake DeBrusk’s game and he made it known right off the bat. He returned on his birthday and it was a celebration. Jake DeBrusk was back in the mix after missing Saturday’s game against the Arizona Coyotes with an upper-body injury. He kicked things off with a goal just 21 seconds into the first period and generated scoring chances throughout the game. DeBrusk’s speed to win a puck race was the effort and reason behind Bergeron’s goal.
• The B’s started each period with scoring chances within the first 30 seconds. DeBrusk generated scoring chances - and a goal - in the first 30 seconds of the first and third period. Taylor Hall had an opportunity in the second period’s opening seconds.
• The Bruins’ defense has been more actively engaged in offensive plays and that style continued against the Panthers. Connor Clifton - who had two secondary assists - told Stanley Cup of Chowder postgame that’s exactly Montgomery’s style and what he wants executed from the blue line: “We’ve been jumping up into the play and creating a lot of offense on it,” Clifton said. “We’ve got the weak side defense jumping into the play, making things happen, pushing them back. We played a lot of the game (tonight) in their end which is always nice.”
• Noticeably - Clifton, Derek Forbort and Mike Reilly were part of a sequence of shifts with strong offensive possession by the Bruins. Reilly and Clifton kept plays alive at the blue line and made long shots on net. Forbort has found his offensive footing, engaging not only at the point, but pinching in and carrying the puck into the offensive zone and being involved in scoring opportunities.
• The Panthers put pressure on Linus Ullmark and he delivered, making 38 saves. Ullmark made some timely saves, as the Bruins lost some momentum during Florida power plays. He came up big multiple times denying Sam Reinhart and a shorthanded chance from Anton Lundell.
• Dan Renouf made his Bruins debut. He had five shots on goal and two blocks in 11:42 TOI.
• The Bruins are back in action tomorrow night for a road tilt against the Ottawa Senators at 7 p.m.