*Photo from NBC Sports*
In order for the Boston Bruins to win, they channeled the power of the Charlies on their team. Charlie Coyle scored twice, including the shootout winner, Charlie McAvoy scored, and the Bruins defeated the Florida Panthers 3-2 on Saturday night.
With the win, a few Bruins reached some career milestones as the improved to 4-3-0 this season. Bruins LW Taylor Hall became the second player drafted in the 2010 NHL Draft to reach 600 career points, joining Dallas Stars forward Tyler Seguin. Hall got 600 on an assist on a goal scored by Coyle. LW Brad Marchand also became the 10th player in Bruins history to record 400 assists when he added an assist on McAvoy's goal.
Coyle talked about the shootout win, saying that "We needed that win. Good on us to fight back and grab the two points. We battled it out, and sometimes you win in that fashion like we did, gutting it out that way, which kind of helps even more to give your team confidence."
With 42 seconds remaining in the first period, Coyle gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead with his 3rd goal of the season, assisted by Hall and Curtis Lazar. 47 seconds into the second period, Anthony Duclair tied the game for the Panthers, making it a 1-1 game on his 6th goal of the season, assisted by Carter Verhaeghe and Aaron Ekblad.
In the 3rd period, Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov gave the Panthers a 2-1 lead, scoring on the power play 7:49 into the 3rd period off a pass from Ekblad. At the 13:35 mark, McAvoy was streaking toward the net when he took a pass from Marchand and scored his first goal, a power play goal to tie the game 2-2 late in regulation. Coyle was the only one on either side to score in the shootout, giving Boston the 3-2 win.
McAvoy said of his goal that "That's not really how we script it on the power play. We get the puck, we're trying to make plays, and that's where the skill takes over. I don't really know what I'm doing there, backdoor, but that's where I ended up. That's where we just trust each other and let the skill take over. It was really nice to see that one go in."
Linus Ullmark was in the goalie crease for the Bruins, and he had himself a nice outing. Ullmark stopped 33 of the 35 shots he faced from the Panthers across regulation and overtime, posting a .943 save percentage. With the win, Ullmark improved to 3-1-0 this season, a good start to his Bruins career.
Spencer Knight manned the net for the Panthers, who saw their undefeated season come to an end, as they fell to 8-0-1 this season, still first place in the Atlantic Division. Knight saved 31 of 33 shots the Bruins sent his way across regulation and overtime, with a .939 save percentage. Knight had previously gone 6-0-0 in his 6 career regular season starts, dating back to last season. Now, he has his first loss in the regular season, falling to 2-0-1 this season.
Barkov said of the shootout loss that "We lost, but we played a really good game. We battled hard, and we gave it our all. We don't think about any streaks or anything. The most important thing is the whole game, how we play it and to play the right way. We're going to fix the little things and keep playing the right way."
The Panthers get back into action on Thursday night, when they host the Washington Capitals, with Sergei Bobrovsky in line to get the start. The Bruins host the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday, with Jeremy Swayman the likely starter.
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