SUNRISE — The Florida Panthers looked a lot like themselves on Wednesday night.
The Panthers had Brad Marchand and Anton Lundell back in the lineup, and their game against the Boston Bruins had the playoff-like feel we have all come to expect from a game between these two rivals.
Paul Maurice, before the game, said that there are a handful of games in a season when the intensity is just a little bit different: Boston and, of course, the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Wednesday, the Bruins came to Sunrise after losing to the Lightning in the Stadium Series game and chilling in Fort Lauderdale for a few days.
Boston survived an early push by the Panthers but, as has been the case all season, came to play.
So, too, did a Panthers team riding a four-game losing streak and way on the outside of the playoff race.
That seemingly did not sit too well with the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions.
The Panthers trailed by a goal going into the second thanks to a pair of breakaways by Michael Eyssimont.
In the second, however, the Panthers brought the thunder with two power play goals and took a 4-2 lead into the third after Sam Reinhart and Lundell went on a breakout while killing a penalty, Lundell getting his third point (he had two assists earlier) of the period by scoring that shorthanded goal.
Things were looking good for the Panthers.
Until, of course, they did not.
The Panthers had a parade to the penalty box throughout the game, killing off the first five penalties.
Boston scored on its sixth power-play of the night and forced overtime with the two-goal comeback in the third.
The Bruins went 1-for-7 on the power play Wednesday, getting the goal they needed.
Florida had chances in the overtime as did the Bruins.
In the end, Marchand — who, at this time last year was captain of the Bruins — scored in the fourth round of the shootout to give the Panthers a 5-4 win.
The Bruins got a point in the standings, yes, but the Panthers got a much-needed win to snap a four-game losing streak.
Both teams moved on feeling OK about things.
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“Good to get the win. [Boston] is playing really well right now,’’ said Marchand, who is 2-0 in games played this season against a Bruins team he captained before last year’s trade deadline.
“I thought we were had a good game. Special teams were really good, and that was the difference tonight. … Unfortunately, they were able to battle back in the third, but it was good to get that extra point.”
Wednesday’s game had a playoff intense feel as should tonight’s game will in Tampa.
The Bruins go into their long Olympic break with points (4-0-3) in their past seven and an eight-point lead on the Panthers in the playoff race.
Boston is, few would have predicted going into the season, doing pretty darned well.
“I give my guys, to this point, a lot of credit,’’ said Boston’s first-year coach Marco Sturm, a one-time Panthers player (2011-12) who actually coached youth hockey in Coral Springs before moving on.
“Nobody thought we would be in the position we are right now. I am proud of them.’’
The beat-up Panthers passed survival mode a long time ago and now need to go on a monster run just to make the playoffs.
They know this.
Hey, a win is a win even if the Panthers gave up what could be a point to the Bruins that ends up costing them down the stretch.
That is a worry for another day.
“I think we got some incredible performances,” Maurice said. “We had some guys just play so incredibly hard.’’
It was a good night, overall, for the Panthers.
Lundell had three points; Matthew Tkachuk and Uvis Balinskis both had a goal and an assist.
Sergei Bobrovsky, now pretty much off for a few weeks, made 25 saves for his 450th win — a milestone reached in the fewest games (793) needed besting Marc-Andre Fleury by 23.
“It is important,’’ Bobrovsky said of getting the win, “not only the points and the opponent, but also for the emotional atmosphere in the locker room to get a win and feel that enjoyment and feel that fun. Build that chemistry and build step by step.
“I’m excited for the future. It’s been great and I’m looking forward to more hockey.”
The Panthers will all break after tonight’s game in Tampa for the Olympics — with 10 players and numerous support staff headed to Milan for the Games.
No one knows what tonight in Tampa will look like.
Regardless, Florida will have 25 games remaining and about six weeks to try and make a run once the NHL restarts later this month.
Boston looks pretty good right now.
The Panthers are not done yet.
Florida should be getting healthier and adding key members of their team (Seth Jones skated Wednesday morning, Jonah Gadjovich and Dmitry Kulikov should be close as well) once the Olympics are over.
We shall see.
“I think we’re capable,’’ Maurice said Wednesday morning when asked about the steep hill his team has to climb.
“I believe that we’re capable because what we have done here over time allows us to cut the last game off. There isn’t an over-excitement in a win, necessarily. You get on rolls where you feel good. We’re going to need some people back. See if we can do that. I mean, everybody’s excited that we’ve only got six guys out tonight. Hey, it was eight. We’re taking it. We’re feeling it. We can get that number under five at some point.
“But I think we have a powerful enough team, and we would then have a motivation and spirit maybe, that we’ve been searching for all year.”
ON DECK: GAME No. 57
FLORIDA PANTHERS at TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING
When: Thursday, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Benchmark Arena, Tampa
National Streaming ONLY: ESPN+, Disney+, Hulu
Radio: WQAM; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
Season Series (Lightning Lead 2-1) — At Florida: Lightning 3, Panthers 1 (Nov. 15); Lightning 4, Panthers 2 (Dec. 27). At Tampa Bay: Panthers 5, Lightning 1 (Dec. 15); Thursday
Last Regular Season: Tied 2-2
Last Postseason: Florida won 4-1 (Round 1)
All-time Regular Season Series: Florida leads 80-55-19, 10 ties
All-Time Postgame Series — Tied 2-2: Lightning won 2021 first-round, 2022 ECS; Panthers won 2024, 2025 first-round series
Up Next for the Panthers: Olympic Break
Next Game for Florida: Feb. 26 vs. Toronto Maple Leafs, 7 p.m.
