The Boston Bruins (32-20-5) gave up three second-period goals, and their comeback attempt was halted in a shootout as the Florida Panthers (29-24-3) picked up a 5-4 win at the Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, FL. 

Mikey Eyssimont (8) scored twice, while Mark Kastelic (9) and Casey Mittelstadt (12) each had one. However, that was not enough for the Bruins, as old friend Brad Marchand scored the game-winner in a shootout. 

Joonas Korpisalo made 22 saves in the loss. He is now 4-0-2 in his last six games heading into the Olympic break. 

Both teams wore their outdoor game uniforms. The Bruins donned yellow, and the Panthers opted for their Winter Classic sweaters. 

The Panthers opened the scoring with a Sam Bennett goal 84 seconds into the game. Marco Sturm challenged for offside, succeeded, and the goal came off the board. However, at the 4:22 mark, Eetu Luostarinen cashed in on a Morgan Geekie turnover and beat Korpisalo. 

The Bruins responded just under three minutes later. Alex Steeves snapped the puck through two Panthers’ skaters, landing right on Mikey Eyssimont’s stick. Eyssimont closed in on Sergei Bobrovsky and played the puck right through his five-hole to tie the game. 

Then, chaos ensued. 

Mason Lohrei left the ice, briefly, due to a high-stick follow-through by AJ Greer. On the next play, Sandis Vilmanis left the ice to deliver an elbow high on Charlie McAvoy’s face. McAvoy went down and was helped off the ice; he returned in the second period. Jonathan Aspirot retaliated, taking matters into his own hands, and an infuriated Marco Sturm took a bench minor for unsportsmanlike conduct. 

Although the play started with Vilmanis delivering an elbow to the head, the Panthers ended up on the power play. 

The Bruins killed the penalty off. Mikey Eyssimont, who already scored on a breakaway, had another chance after serving the bench minor. Eyssimont jumped out of the box for a clean breakaway on Bobrovsky. He deked with his backhand, pulled the puck around the sprawling goaltender, and placed it in the net. 

For the first time in his NHL career, Mikey Eyssimont scored twice in a game.

Near the end of the period, the physicality continued. Tanner Jeannot and former Bruin AJ Greer engaged in a spirited fight. Jeannot connected multiple times, landing sizable punches on Greer and eventually getting the takedown. 

The Bruins took a 2-1 lead into the first intermission and had a slight advantage in shots, 9-7. Nikita Zadorov took a slashing minor at the 20:00 mark of the first period. 

The Panthers only needed 30 seconds of the power play to score, opening the second period with a game-tying goal. Uvis Balinskis steered a shot from distance that beat Korpisalo on his glove side. 

Viktor Arvidsson took a hooking minor at the 2:22 mark, putting Florida on the power play not even two minutes after the tying goal. This time, Florida only needed 25 seconds. Matthew Tkachuk used his backhand to get the puck behind Korpisalo, giving the Panthers the lead. 

Then, the Bruins went to a long power play after drawing two penalties, which overlapped for seven seconds of five-on-three. On the second Bruins’ power play, Sam Reinhart fed Anton Lundell on a shorthanded two-on-one, and Lundell lifted it over Korpisalo to extend the Panthers’ lead to two.

Florida scored three goals in the second period, none of which came at five-on-five.

At the 7:52 mark of the third period, the Bruins started their comeback effort. Charlie McAvoy teed up a slapshot from the point, which went in the direction of Mark Kastelic. The 6-foot-4 forward redirected it off of his stick, then his arm, and into the back of the net. 

The Bruins power play skated out to the ice for the sixth time of the night (0-for-5). Off the faceoff, the Bruins moved the puck around the offensive zone, and both Casey Mittelstadt and David Pastrnak were in the slot. Pastrnak dropped a pass to Mittelstadt, who fired it on frame and beat Bobrovsky on his blocker side. 

Boston’s power play would only connect on that goal; they finished one-for-seven. 

The game needed overtime, but that would not be enough time to settle the game. 

The Panthers opened with a goal in the shootout. On the next shot, Viktor Arvidsson scored for the Bruins. The teams would not score until the fourth round, when the Panthers sent out Brad Marchand. Fittingly, Marchand scored the goal that would knock off his old team. 

The Bruins are off until the end of the month. Nine players are heading to Milan for the 2026 Winter Olympics, and when they come back, the Bruins take on Rick Bowness and the Columbus Blue Jackets (29-20-7).Â