Marchand, Rask fuel Bruins to rout of Panthers
SUNRISE, Fla. -- Brad Marchand scored twice and Tuukka Rask mastered Florida again as the Boston Bruins defeated the Panthers 4-0 on Saturday night at the BB&T Center.
David Backes and Riley Nash also scored for Boston, which is 4-0-0 against Florida this season - with Rask in goal for all four of those games. Rask finished with 25 saves.
Florida went 0-for-3 on its power play against Boston and is 0-for-16 with the man advantage against the Bruins this season.
Marchand scored on a shorthanded breakaway in the first period and on a power play in the second. He hadn't scored since Dec. 23 prior to Saturday, but he has five points, including three goals, in four games against the Panthers this season.
Backes, just off the injured list, scored his first goal since Dec. 27. He has three goals in three games against Florida this season.
Rask is 19-3-1 with four shutouts in his career vs. Florida. His goals-against average against Florida entering Saturday was 1.53.
Boston (21-17-4) snapped a two-game losing streak. Rask has 20 of Boston's 21 wins this season.
Florida (17-16-8) ended its homestand by going 1-2-0. Even worse for the injury-plagued Panthers, they lost center Greg McKegg in the second period due to an upper-body injury.
Boston opened the scoring with 7:12 left in the first period.
Marchand got his shorthanded goal after blocking a shot by Keith Yandle and pouncing on the puck, skating in on Reimer and beating him with a backhand shot that tipped in off the right post. There was little room between Reimer's left skate and the post, but Marchand found the net.
After a second Bruins penalty -- this time on Nash for boarding -- the Panthers had a 5-on-3 for 44 seconds. However, Florida got zero shots on goal during its two-man advantage and went into the second period trailing 1-0.
Boston extended its lead to 2-0 on a goal by Backes with 15:47 left in the second period. The sequence started with an offensive-zone faceoff won by the Bruins. Reimer stopped the first shot on goal, but Boston retrieved the puck and kept the pressure on.
Finally, Zdeno Chara slipped a pass to David Krejci, whose shot from the point was deflected in by Backes.
The Bruins made it 3-0 on Marchand's power-play goal with 10:20 left in the second period. After a slashing penalty on Florida's Paul Thompson, it took Boston only 19 seconds to capitalize. Reimer stopped a shot by Torey Krug, but Marchand was in perfect position to put away the rebound.
Nash made it 4-0 on his short-side, bad-angle goal that caromed in off of Reimer's back with 15:01 left in the third period. Kevan Miller got the assist.
NOTES: Bruins alternate captain and C David Backes hadn't played since suffering a concussion on Dec. 29. ... Panthers second-line C Nick Bjugstad, who injured a groin Friday, could miss at least two weeks. ... With Florida starting G Roberto Luongo out (upper-body injury), James Reimer got his second straight start and Sam Brittain was called up from Manchester of the ECHL. A fourth-round pick in 2010, Brittain -- who has no NHL experience -- was 15-5-0 with a 2.62 goals-against average for Manchester. ... Bruins D John-Michael Liles (concussion) practiced Friday and could return soon. ... Bruins prospect Charlie McAvoy, a 19-year-old defenseman, was named player of the game Thursday as he led Team USA over Canada in the World Juniors final. ... Boston assigned fourth-line LW Noel Acciari to Providence. ... Boston called up G Zane McIntyre, 24, from Providence of the AHL, where he was 10-0-0 with a 1.41 GAA. Former Bruins backup G Anton Khudobin (1-5-0) cleared waivers and was sent to Providence.