Bruins Beat Panthers 3-1
SUNRISE, Fla. -- Center Brad Marchand scored two goals to lead the Boston Bruins to a 3-1 win over their Atlantic Division rivals, the Florida Panthers, on Friday night at the BB&T Center.
Boston improved to 4-0-0 on the road this season.
The Bruins (5-3-1), who have the top-ranked power play in the NHL this season, got a pair of goals with the man advantage -- one by Marchand and the second by defenseman Zdeno Charra, who also had an assist in the game.
Florida (5-4-1), which went 3-for-3 on the power play in its previous game, a 4-1 win over Colorado, also scored on its special teams -- a goal by center Nick Bjugstad that came on a five-on-three situation.
But Boston goalie Tuukka Rask (3-3-1), who struggled to start this season but has allowed just one goal in his past two games, helped Boston kill off the rest of that Florida power play.
The Panthers finished just 1-for-6 on their power play. The Bruins, who went 2-for-3 on their power play, killed two penalties in the final five minutes, including a game-misconduct on Marchand for boarding defenseman Dmitry Kulikov.
Florida goalie Roberto Luongo (3-4-1) took the loss in a battle between two elite goalies. Rask is the 2014 Vezina Award winner, and Luongo is the leader in wins among active goalies.
Boston opened the scoring with 9:22 elapsed in the first period. Florida was down a man when Reilly Smith -- who was acquired from Boston in the offseason in exchange for fellow right winger Jimmy Hayes -- was sent off for hooking.
The Bruins took advantage, screening Luongo on a shot from the point by Charra. Marchand, who created the traffic, got the tip-in goal.
Marchand, who has four goals this season, made it 2-0 with 7:07 elapsed in the second period. After a shot by defenseman Torey Krug was stopped by Luongo, Marchand swooped it and scored on a backhander.
Just 21 seconds later, Panthers center Brandon Pirri was sent off for tripping. That opened things up for Charra's tip in, his first goal of the season. Bruins center David Krejci, who drew the tripping penalty, also earned the primary assist on the play.
Bjugstad's goal, which came with 11:32 elapsed in the second period, came off a scramble in front of Rask. It was the fourth goal of the season for Bjugstad.
Boston had a second-period goal by defenseman Adam McQuaid waved off when left winger Loui Eriksson was called for interfering with Luongo.
NOTES: Two-thirds of Florida's top line -- RW Jaromir Jagr (ribs, groin) and C Aleksander Barkov (hand) -- sat out. ... Panthers LW Logan Shaw, 23, made his NHL debut. The Panthers' third-round pick in 2011, Shaw was recalled from Portland of the AHL on Thursday, when D Dylan Olsen was sent down. ... Florida also scratched D Steven Kampfer. ... D Brian Campbell, 36, is the only player left on the Panthers since 2011, when GM Dale Tallon took over. ... Bruins D Kevan Miller (lower-body) returned to the lineup. ... Boston scratched C Joonas Kemppainen and D Zach Trotman. ... Bruins D Dennis Seidenberg returned to practice this week for the first time since back surgery but is expected to miss another month. ... Both teams' backup goalies are off to 2-0 starts -- Florida's Al Montoya and Boston's Jonas Gustavsson.
