Late Push Falls Short: Breaking Apart the Bruins’ Shootout Loss to Florida

It just had to be the old Bruins captain, Brad Marchand, who won it for Florida.

After a strong start, the Boston Bruins (32-20-5) let a special teams collapse define the second period, and although they pushed back in the third, they lost 5-4 in a shootout to the Florida Panthers (29-24-3) on Wednesday night. 

Not for nothing, when Marchand hopped over the bench, David Pastrnak knew what his old linemate had in store: “I knew [he] was going to do the backhand move. That’s his move. It was either that backhand high or backhand five-hole, that was my guess on the bench.” 

The shootout raised some eyebrows, as well as some discussion on social media as to why Pastrnak did not shoot. Marco Sturm opted for Viktor Arvidsson (goal), Marat Khusnutdinov, Charlie McAvoy, and Casey Mittelstadt instead. 

“I didn’t see (Pastrnak) score yet,” said Sturm, when asked about the shootout decision. “So again, that’s going to be something on us, too, just to try to help him out and see what we can do better to score some of the goals.”

In Sturm’s defense, only Mittelstadt and Khusnutdinov have scored shootout goals this season – until Arvidsson did in the first round. Charlie McAvoy entered the game at a career 3-for-8 (37.5%). David Pastrnak is 10-for-43 (23.3%) in shootouts throughout his career, but 0-for-2 this season. 

Although the decision drew discussion, McAvoy scoring in the shootout would have been a storybook ending. 

In the first period, McAvoy went down via an elevated elbow. Sandis Vilmanis hit McAvoy awkwardly, and it sent him down the tunnel for the rest of the first period. 

“It was a brutal hit,” Sturm said after the game. “Everyone saw it. Obviously, I had the opportunity to look at the replay, too. To come out with a 4-on-4 like that, I just didn’t understand, that’s all.”

The Bruins were assessed a bench minor for unsportsmanlike conduct after Sturm found out it was a 4-on-4, which gave the Panthers a power play after the illegal check to the head. 

“I’m here to protect my guys, and especially Charlie,” the Bruins head coach said. “If you target his head, most clearly to see, that just pisses me off.”

Sturm added that he got no explanation as to why the illegal check to the head was a two-minute minor as opposed to a five-minute major. Fortunately for the Bruins, McAvoy returned for the second period. 

To keep the physicality going in the first period, Tanner Jeannot and AJ Greer dropped their gloves for a spirited fight. 

Mikey Eyssimont scored on two breakaways in the first period. Since returning to the lineup on January 27, he has three points (2-1–3), all of which have come on the road trip in Florida.

“I always try to keep my confidence in practice,” Eyssimont said after the game. “Over the course of the past few weeks, I’ve been able to do that and just feel really, really good in practice.” 

However, the game changed for the Bruins in the second period. Some of the same problems came back to bite the Bruins. 

With zeros on the clock in the first period, Nikita Zadorov drew a slashing minor (you can be the judge). That gave Florida a 5-on-4 to start the second period, and they capitalized 30 seconds into it. Florida got on the power play again, not even two minutes after their goal, and took a lead after 25 seconds of the man-advantage. 

January was a great month for the Bruins; the only thing weighing them down was their penalty kill. 

The shorthanded struggles carried over to the Stadium Series game on Sunday, where the Lightning clawed their way back with three-straight power play goals. 

Since the calendar flipped to 2026, the Bruins penalty kill is ranked 30th in the NHL. They are killing penalties at a 65.5% rate. The two teams behind them in that span? Vancouver and St. Louis, who are both at the bottom of the standings and actively selling ahead of the trade deadline. 

Then, it got worse for the special teams. Anton Lundell potted a shorthanded goal to extend the Panthers’ lead to two. That is the sixth shorthanded goal allowed by the Bruins this season; they led the league with 13 last year.

The Bruins trailed by two going into the third period. They entered the game 1-17-0 when trailing after two. On the other end, Florida was 17-1-1 when leading after the second period. 

“It’s not easy, once they get a lead – this team specifically – to come back,” Eyssimont said about the Panthers.

“We found ourselves in a bit of a hole,” Casey Mittelstadt said after the game. “We’ve proven all year [that] we’re going to fight until the horn blows.” 

That is exactly what the Bruins did. 

Mark Kastelic scored on a redirection to make it a one-goal game. Then, the Bruins (finally) scored a power play goal on their sixth attempt. They went 1-for-7 on Wednesday night. Casey Mittelstadt, who was moved onto the first power play unit after the fifth attempt, equalized the game for Boston. 

While all of this was happening, Joonas Korpisalo, who is headed to Milan this week, made 22 saves for the Bruins. Although they did not get the win, Korpisalo made the needed saves to keep the Bruins in this game, including six high-danger saves. 

“I mean, [Korpisalo] has been fantastic all year,” Casey Mittelstadt said about his goalie. “He kept us in it, and guys had to step up at different times, and I think [Korpisalo] led the charge on that tonight.” 

Although the Bruins head into the break having lost two straight shootout games, the team took two of four points on a road trip in Florida. 

“They are big points, I’m not going to lie,” Marco Sturm said. “Unfortunately, twice, we came short in a shootout. That’s where we have to get better, too, because at the end of the day, you might need them.”

“Going to Florida, it’s not always an easy trip. You have the Stanley Cup champions here, you got Tampa being the hottest team in the league, and we survived. So, I give my guys, till this point, a lot of credit. Nobody thought we’d be in that position, and we are right now, and I’m proud of them.”

From the holiday break to the Olympic break, the Bruins finished 12-3-4. 

With the exception of the nine who are heading to Milan, the Bruins are off until February 26. The team will come back from the break for a home game against the Columbus Blue Jackets (29-20-7) on February 26.