BOSTON — The Boston Bruins scored three times in the first period and got 40 saves from Jeremy Swayman to beat the Florida Panthers 4–1 on Sunday in a game that produced 126 penalty minutes.

Elias Lindholm, Mikey Eyssimont and Morgan Geekie supplied the early goals as Boston won its fourth straight game and improved to 7–0–0 at home, according to Associated Press reporting published by Sportsnet. JJ Peterka also scored for the Bruins, while David Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha each had two assists.

The confrontations began at the opening faceoff, when Boston defenceman Nikita Zadorov fought Florida forward Brady Tkachuk. Just over six minutes later, the Panthers’ Garnet Hathaway and the Bruins’ Mark Kastelic squared off.

Lindholm opened the scoring at 4:50 on a goal confirmed after a lengthy review. Eyssimont made it 2–0 less than two minutes later, poking in a loose puck after a wraparound attempt. Geekie then scored for the fourth consecutive game, converting a two-man advantage at 15:59.

Swayman stopped 17 shots in the opening period. Carter Verhaeghe scored Florida’s lone goal on a power play, and Jacob Markstrom finished with 32 saves. The Panthers have lost three of their past four games.

Florida concludes its three-game road trip Tuesday at Columbus. Boston hosts Montreal on Thursday.

Sources