LDN - Sports

Bruins beat Panthers on Pastrnak's OT goal

[December 06, 2016] BOSTON -- Count Claude Julien among those impressed with David Pastrnak.

"I think he's been our best forward since the beginning of the year. It's nice to see him growing like he is right now," the Boston coach said after Pastrnak's spectacular goal at 1:23 of overtime gave the Bruins their third straight win, a 4-3 decision over the Florida Panthers on Monday night.

"He's coming into his own. There's no doubt about that," Julien said. "Confidence-wise it's probably at its highest, and rightfully so. I think when you look at him skating, not even on the goal, but before the goal, he went after that puck to get control of it even before that goal happened."

Pastrnak, scoring his second goal of the game and 15th of the season, broke around defenseman Michael Matheson, got goaltender Roberto Luongo down on the ice and flipped the puck home, handing Florida its first loss in six overtime decisions on the season.

The 15 goals in 21 games matches the then 19-year-old Pastrnak's 51-game total of last season. He was a plus-3 last year and is a plus-15 so far this season.

"He's very creative. He's very creative," winning goaltender Tuukka Rask said. "He's been a talent for many, many years and now he's finally taking the last step and kind of making a real name for himself in the league."

David Krejci got his second assist of the game on the play.

The Panthers rallied from three one-goal deficits, tying it for the last time when defenseman Jason Demers picked up a rebound off the back boards and smacked it home before Rask could recover. The goal came with 1:29 remaining and Luongo just pulled for an extra attacker.

David Backes, who had five shots on goal, deflected home Ryan Spooner's screened shot to give the Bruins a 3-2 lead with 6:52 left.

Spooner, robbed by Luongo in the first period but playing a strong game, let a shot go from outside the faceoff circle. Backes, tied up with defenseman Mark Pysyk in front, re-directed in his seventh goal of the season.

It was Backes' third goal in the last five games.

Rask stopped 27 shots and raised his season record to 14-4-1 and his career mark against the Panthers to 17-3-1. The Bruins are 15-2-1 in the last 18 and 21-4-1 in the last 26 games against Florida.

The Panthers fell to 1-1-2 under interim coach Tom Rowe, and 1-2-2 in the first five games of a six-game road trip. But they lost defenseman Keith Yandle to a lower-body injury in the first period - the local product was hurt in front of family and friends while playing in his 577th straight game.

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Bruins center Tim Schaller (59) tries to control the puck in front of Florida Panthers goalie Roberto Luongo (1) during the first period at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports

"It was an unbelievable effort -- this is an incredibly tough building to come in and play," Rowe said. "The place is lively, with their fans, and I thought our young guys got better as the game went on. And I thought that third period was excellent. That's the way we want to play."

Aleksander Barkov had tied the game 2-2 with 12:06 remaining.

Tim Schaller also scored for the Bruins, with Jaromir Jagr answering his goal with the 754th goal and 1,881st point of his NHL career.

The Bruins are 12-0 this season when leading after two periods, but the Panthers tied the game with the help of a Boston turnover. Patrice Bergeron coughed up the puck and former Bruin Reilly Smith got it to Barkov. His snipe from the slot was only his second goal in the last 24 games, but both have come in the last three.

Luongo made 32 saves.

NOTES: Bruins D Zdeno Chara returned after missing six games with a lower-body injury. D Torey Krug missed the morning skate because of illness but played. ... Boston LW Matt Beleskey and Florida C Jonathan Marchessault, both out with lower-body injuries, missed their first games of the season. The Bruins announced after the game that Beleskey will miss six weeks with a right knee injury. ... Florida Fs Jaromir Jagr, Reilly Smith, Shawn Thornton and Seth Griffith (scratched Monday) are all former Bruins, and D Keith Yandle, interim coach Tom Rowe, recently recalled C Paul Thompson and assistant coach Scott Allen are all from the Boston area. Goaltender coach Robb Tallas is also a former Bruin. "I grew up here; it's always fun coming back home," Rowe said. ... The Bruins honored local Olympic medalists in a brief pregame ceremony. ... The Panthers end their six-game road trip on Tuesday in Philadelphia. The Bruins are at Washington on Wednesday and host the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday.

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