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National Hockey League
Boston 4, Florida 2
When: 7:00 PM ET, Saturday, December 14, 2019
Where: BB&T Center, Sunrise, Florida
Referees: Steve Kozari, T.J. Luxmore
Linesmen: Kory Nagy, James Tobias
Attendance: 15157

David Pastrnak scored twice to extend his league-leading tally to 28 and power the Boston Bruins to a 4-2 win over the host Florida Panthers on Saturday night.

The Bruins snapped their five-game losing streak (0-4-1), their longest skid since they went 0-5-0 in March of 2016. Backup goalie Jaroslav Halak earned the win, making 31 saves and improving his record to 8-3-3.

Jake DeBrusk and David Krejci also scored for the Bruins, who built a 3-0 lead and hung on for the win. Torey Krug and Brad Marchand added two assists each.

Panthers star Aleksander Barkov left the game with 1:23 left in the third due to a possible leg injury. Sergei Bobrovsky, who had allowed just six goals in his past four games, took the loss. He had 38 saves on 41 shots.

Mark Pysyk, normally a defenseman but switching to forward for this game, got Florida's first goal, his second of the season. Keith Yandle followed with Florida's second goal, and fellow defenseman Aaron Ekblad had two assists.

The Panthers have lost three straight games, scoring just four times in that span. They are 3-7-0 in their past 10 games and 3-4-0 through seven games of a nine-game homestand, the longest in franchise history.

Boston opened the scoring with 5:19 left in the first period.

The sequence started when the puck bounced over the stick of Panthers defenseman Anton Stralman in the Florida zone. DeBrusk pounced for a breakaway and flipped the puck in after Bobrovsky missed a poke-check.

Boston earned a 2-0 lead with 16:46 remaining in the second. Krejci fired from the high slot, and the puck trickled in behind Bobrovsky.

The Panthers got another bad break when Vincent Trocheck batted at the puck, causing it to go over the glass for a delay-of-game penalty. Boston converted on the power-play chance, as Pastrnak scored on a redirection of a Marchand pass for a 3-0 lead with 12:30 left in the second.

Florida got on the board with 17:14 left in the third. The sequence started with a Colton Sceviour steal and ended when Pysyk scored on a rebound of an Ekblad shot.

Yandle cut Florida's deficit to 3-2 with 10:47 left in the third when his knuckling shot from above the left circle fluttered past Halak's glove, ringing in off the right post.

Pastrnak added an empty-netter with 2:10 to ice Boston's win.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Boston   Florida
David Pastrnak 2 Points Keith Yandle 2
David Pastrnak 2 Goals Keith Yandle 1
Torey Krug 2 Assists Aaron Ekblad 2
David Pastrnak 1 Power Play Goals N/A
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Jaroslav Halak .939 Save Percentage Sergei Bobrovsky .927
Jaroslav Halak 31 Saves Sergei Bobrovsky 38
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Boston 42 4 1-3 3-3 6 39
Florida 33 2 0-3 2-3 6 29
Upcoming Games
  • Florida will play their next game at home against Ottawa. The Panthers have a W/L % of .375 after a win and .562 after a loss.
  • Boston will play their next game at home against Los Angeles. The Bruins have a W/L % of .762 after a win and .385 after a loss.