The Florida Panthers were desperate Thursday night and fought hard for a 3-2 win over the Boston Bruins at the BB&T Center.
The victory keeps the Panthers in the mix for the final wild-card playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. But for the Panthers to earn that berth, the Philadelphia Flyers must lose in regulation to the New York Rangers on Saturday, and Florida must beat the Buffalo Sabres at home Saturday and the Bruins on the road Sunday.
The Bruins, meanwhile, have lost control of first place in the Atlantic Division and the Eastern Conference. Thursday’s loss keeps the B’s tied with the Tampa Bay Lightning atop the division and conference with 110 points, but the Bolts are in first because of their 47-46 advantage over the Bruins in the regulation and overtime wins (ROW) tiebreaker.
The Lightning will earn the No. 1 seed if they beat the Sabres on Friday and the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday. The Bruins finish out the regular season at home with a Saturday matchup against the Ottawa Senators and a Sunday finale versus the Panthers. The B’s will play the rival Toronto Maple Leafs if they finish second in the division. Their first-round opponent for the division winner has yet to be determined.
It’s unlikely the Lightning drop points in their last two games, as the Sabres have clinched last place in the league and the Hurricanes already have been eliminated from playoff contention. That said, stranger things have happened.
Here are some other notes from Bruins vs. Panthers:
— Bruins defenseman Torey Krug set a new career high in assists with his 44th of the season. It came on Ryan Donato’s first-period goal. Krug also has a career-high 58 points in 73 games.
— Donato’s goal was his fifth of the season. He now has eight points (five goals, three assists) in 10 games as a pro.
— Bruins winger Brad Marchand continued his stellar season with another point, tying his career high of 85 points set during the 2016-17 campaign.
— Here’s a cool stat about Bruins rookies this season.
Heinen scored his 15th goal of the season in the second period. It was his second tally in the last six games. He now ranks ninth in scoring among rookies with 45 points (15 goals, 30 assists) in 75 games.
— Aleksander Barkov’s first-period goal was the 100th of his career. The Panthers center has scored 27 goals this season, and his 77 points are a career high.
— Bruins forward Brad Marchand played in his 600th career game. Panthers goalie Roberto Luongo played in his 1,000th career game, becoming the third netminder in league history to accomplish that feat. The others are Martin Brodeur (1,266) and Patrick Roy (1,029).
