In a week that has included a lot of off-the-ice distractions involving head coach Joel Quenneville, the Florida Panthers overcame a slow start against the Boston Bruins, winning 4-1. Sergei Bobrovsky had a huge night, saving 30 of 31 shots, including a couple of big ones to close out the game. With the win, Florida becomes the 14th team in NHL History to start a season 7-0-0.
First Period:
Boston started off the first period very strong, starting out the first half of the period outshooting Florida 11-2. Boston would strike first at 10:37 when a wrist shot by Charlie Coyle bounced off of Gustav Forsling’s skate. Florida would answer a couple of minutes later when Sam Reinhart broke out of a pile and passed the puck to Mason Marchment, who shot it past Linus Ullmark.
Second Period:
Florida would come out answering right back in the next period, with a 14-2 turn in shots. Eetu Luostarinen would score his first goal of the season when Gustav Forsling and Sam Reinhart set up a tip-in past Ullmark. It would be Reinhart’s second assist Monday night. Meanwhile, Gustav Forsling would have assists on three of the four Panther goals Wednesday night.
Third Period:
In a very quick final period, both teams would have opportunities all throughout. Sergei Bobrovsky came up huge with some big saves on Boston. Florida would extend their lead to 3-1 when Aleksander Barkov and Aaron Ekblad sent a puck deep to Anthony Duclair, who slid it across past Ullmark. Owen Tippett would clinch the game with an empty-net goal to make it 4-1.
Joel Quenneville Situation:
As the investigation begins regarding the 2010 Chicago Blackhawks sexual assault situation and Kyle Beach coming out as ‘John Doe’, Gary Bettman will be meeting with Florida Panthers head coach Joel Quenneville on Thursday at 2:00 PM in New York to discuss the situation, and possibly his fate. There is a possibility that Wednesday’s game against Boston is the last game Coach Q will ever coach.
Next Up
The Panthers will play these same Bruins on Saturday, October 30th, at 7:00 PM EST.