BOSTON — Sam Reinhart scored on a power play and added a short-handed goal that gave the Florida Panthers the lead for good in the second period on Monday and the defending Stanley Cup champions beat the Boston Bruins 4-3.
Anton Lundell also scored twice and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 25 shots for Florida, which has eliminated Boston from the playoffs in each of the last two seasons.
Mason Lohrei and Johnny Beecher each had a goal and an assist for the Bruins, and Mark Kastelic had three assists. Jeremy Swyaman, making his third straight start after missing the opener following a contract holdout, made 22 saves in his first loss of the season.
Florida looked strong, even without captain Aleksandr Barkov, who is week to week with an unspecified injury, and forward Matthew Tkachuk, who missed his second straight game because of an illness.
Giveaways cost the Bruins, with Reinhart stealing the puck at the Boston blue line and skating in for a two on one that gave the Panthers a 3-2 lead.
About three minutes after Reinhart’s second goal, Lundell scored his second off another Bruins turnover near the Boston blue line. Gustav Forsling took the puck away from Boston’s Morgan Geekie and shot it ahead to Lundell, who skated in and beat Swayman on the stick side to make it 4-2.
Reinhart’s first-period power play goal came off the faceoff that followed Charlie McAvoy’s cross-checking penalty, just 6 seconds into the man advantage.
Florida: Visit Columbus on Tuesday night.
Boston: Visit the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday.
___
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
