If I told you last June that on Feb. 5 next year, the Bruins would lose a shootout to the Panthers, you wouldn’t be surprised. But if I told you that they would lose that game but remain eight points clear of the Panthers for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, you’d take that.
In other words, perspective is everything. And the Bruins did their best to keep that in mind in the immediate aftermath of their 5-4 shootout loss in Sunrise to close out the club’s pre-Olympics slate.
“Going to Florida, it’s not always an easy trip,” Bruins head coach Marco Sturm said following Wednesday’s showdown at Amerant Bank Arena. “They’re the Stanley Cup champions here, and Tampa being the hottest team in the league, and we survived. So, I give my guys to this point, a lot of credit. Nobody thought we would be in the position we are right now, and I’m proud of them. And I think for all of us, it’s good to have a little break and come back ready to go for a really big month.”
Here’s a look at the 985TheSportsHub.com 3 Stars of the game…
3rd Star: Sergei Bobrovsky
Feb 4, 2026; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (72) makes a save against the Bruins at Amerant Bank Arena. (Sam Navarro/Imagn Images)
Box score watchers will look at Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky’s line and think that the 37-year-old (when did that happen, by the way?) had a mediocre night in the Florida net. But truth be told, ‘Bob’ may have been the only reason the Panthers got this one to overtime at all.
In a game that became dominated by Boston power-play opportunities in the second half of regulation, Bobrovsky was excellent, and downright flustered the Bruins to close out the second period. And, more importantly for a Florida club desperate for points to stay in the race, he did not let the Bruins get the go-ahead goal in regulation or overtime.
By the night’s end, Bobrovsky faced a staggering 16 high-danger shots at all-situation play (per NaturalStatTrick.com), but did enough to win the 450th game of his career. Bobrovsky is just the eighth goalie in league history to reach that milestone, and did it the fastest (793 games played), beating the recently retired Marc-Andre Fleury by 23 games.
2nd Star: Mikey Eyssimont
SUNRISE, FLORIDA – FEBRUARY 04: Michael Eyssimont of the Bruins scores a goal past Sergei Bobrovsky #72 of the Panthers at Amerant Bank Arena (Megan Briggs/Getty Images)
If we’re being honest with the expectations from the player’s point of view (particularly from an ice-time and lineup stability standpoint) compared to what’s actually happened this season, it probably hasn’t been the year that Mikey Eyssimont envisioned for himself.
But Eyssimont is doing everything he can to prove that he’s worth a permanent spot, and continued that push Wednesday with a pair of strikes for the Black and Gold, including a beautiful finish on his second.
The two-goal outing was the first multi-goal performance of Eyssimont’s career, and the confidence is clearly there for the versatile wing.
“I always try to keep my confidence in practice, so over the course of the past few weeks, I’ve been able to do that and feel really good,” Eyssimont said. “I still feel skilled, and just trust myself as a player.”
1st Star: Anton Lundell
SUNRISE, FLORIDA – FEBRUARY 04: Anton Lundell #15 of the Panthers scores a goal against Joonas Korpisalo #70 of the Bruins at Amerant Bank Arena. (Megan Briggs/Getty Images)
The Bruins spend so much timing trying to keep the Panthers’ big guns — Sam Bennett, Brad Marchand, Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Reinhart, and Aleksander Barkov (when healthy) — at bay that you almost forget about everybody else that they have. (And that’s usually what kills ‘ya.)
On Wednesday, it was Anton Lundell’s time to shine, as the Finnish center put forth his best performance against the B’s to date, with a goal and two helpers to go with a forward-leading 24:18 of time on ice.
And just in case the three points weren’t damaging enough, Lundell also made sure to kick off the shootout with a backhand tuck.