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Florida Panthers GameDay

Not Nine: Boston Bruins 3, Florida Panthers 2 (SO)

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Jonathan Huberdeau of the Florida Panthers wears a tribute jersey to late teammate Jimmy Hayes before Saturday night’s game against the host Boston Bruins. // Photo courtesy @FlaPanthers

The Florida Panthers long winning streak came to an end Saturday night as they lost 3-2 in a shootout to the host Boston Bruins.

The Panthers end October with 17 of a possible 18 points by picking one up on Saturday.

The Panthers’ were trying to win on consecutive nights. On Friday, they won in Detroit before going to extras with the Bruins.

Prior to 2021, the Panthers had never won more than their first two games in a season.

The Panthers started off 3-0 in January before suffering their first loss.

Florida ended this October 8-0-1.

The best start in franchise history came in 1996 when the defending Eastern Conference champions went 8-0 with four ties — giving them 20 points in the standings. This team is already at 17 points through nine games.

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Sasha Barkov, the overtime hero of Friday night, gave the Panthers their first lead of the night Saturday, scoring on a power play one-timer from the right circle with 12:11 remaining to break a 1-1 tie.

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Barkov missed his shot in the second round of the shootout.

Charlie McAvoy tied it for the Bruins on a power play goal with 6:25 remaining after Carter Verhaeghe took his second penalty of the period.

McAvoy then got the only goal of the shootout.

Spencer Knight, the former Boston College standout, looked right at home (as he should have) at the Garden as he made 31 saves to start his NHL career 6-0-1 after winning his first four starts last season.

Boston got the scoring going late in the first period with Charlie Coyle whipping a wrist shot past Knight with 41.9 seconds remaining.

Florida quickly tied things up — in game time, anyway.

After trailing going into the second period, Anthony Duclair had another highlight-quality goal against the Bruins.

Duclair, who went airborne to beat Linus Ullmark (33 saves) on Wednesday night, stayed on his skates here, beating the Bruins’ goalie with a pretty shot as he slid through the slot and went top shelf 47 seconds into the period.

That was Duclair’s sixth goal in his first nine games this season — reminiscent of his start with Ottawa two years ago when he scored 20 before the All-Star break.

The Panthers had a scary moment early in the second when Aaron Ekblad blocked a shot and was in obvious pain as he stayed on the ice to finish his shift deep in the zone before slowly making it back to the bench.

Ekblad missed at least one shift, but was back on the ice to finish the period.

— A moment of silence was held before the game for Jimmy Hayes, who died in August at the age of 31.

Hayes, who was traded from the Panthers to his hometown Bruins in 2015, was honored with a fun video which featured clips of his time both with Boston and the Panthers.

The two teams wore special warmup jerseys with his nickname and No. 12 on the back. Those are being auctioned off to benefit charity.

For more information on purchasing one of the jerseys — either a Florida or Boston one — visit www.FlaPanthers.givesmart.com or www.BruinsAuctions.com.

GR’S THREE STARS OF THE NIGHT

1. Charlie McAvoy, Boston

2. Sasha Barkov, Florida

3. Spencer Knight, Florida

FLORIDA PANTHERS ON DECK

WASHINGTON CAPITALS AT FLORIDA PANTHERS

  • WHEN: Thursday, 7 p.m.
  • WHERE: FLA Live Arena, Sunrise
  • TICKETS: CLICK HERE
  • TV/STREAMING: Bally Sports Florida
  • RADIO: WQAM 560-AM
  • Last season: Did not play

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