Krejci, Rask help Bruins complete sweep of Panthers
BOSTON -- The Boston Bruins completed a five-game series sweep of Florida and kept pace in their chase for a playoff spot with a 5-2 win over the Panthers on Saturday.
David Krejci cashed in on an egregious giveaway by goaltender Reto Berra to snap a 2-2 tie with 5:30 left in the second period and Tuukka Rask stopped 24 shots in his third consecutive victory as the Bruins won their fourth straight game.
Patrice Bergeron capped a two-goal performance with an empty-net tally, Noah Acciari and Brad Marchand also scored, and David Pastrnak had two assists for the Bruins, who outscored the Panthers 18-7 in the five games -- all won by Rask. Boston has gone 18-2-1 in the last 21 and 24-4-1 in the last 29 games against Florida and has won 11 of the last 12 TD Garden games between the teams.
The Bruins came into the game one point out of third place in the Atlantic Division and three points up in the wild card race -- with all teams battling with Boston playing at night.
Goaltender Anton Khudobin is expected to play for the Bruins in Chicago on Sunday, and Boston finishes with three games at home.
Rask made 13 stops in the third period, holding the lead before a late power-play goal by Marchand -- his 39th goal of the season, extending his career high.
Berra, playing because both Roberto Luongo and James Reimer were hurt, came out to clear the puck away from a charging Pastrnak, banged it off the boards and right to Krejci, who slapped his 23rd goal of the season into the net before Berra got back.
Boston's second goal, by Bergeron, was challenged by the Panthers because Marchand was in the crease and looked like he kept Berra from getting to the puck. The goal stood after the challenge.
The Bruins improved to 32-0-2 when leading after two periods. The Panthers, playing their first game since being eliminated from contention and also without leading scorer Aleksander Barkov, fell to 1-24-5 when trailing after two periods.
Thomas Vanek and Jaromir Jagr scored for Florida -- Vanek's 32nd goal and 66th point in 61 games against the Bruins and Jagr's 765th career goal.
NOTES: Florida LW Shawn Thornton, who won a Stanley Cup with the Bruins, played his final game at TD Garden -- and was honored by being named the game's third star. ... Panthers Reilly Smith (26) and Jussi Jokinen (34) both had birthdays Saturday. ... Tuukka Rask's Thursday night shutout of Dallas was the first for the Bruins over the Minnesota/Dallas franchise since Gerry Cheevers did it on Jan. 21, 1980. ... Florida D Keith Yandle, a Boston native, played in his 629th straight game. ... The Bruins have playoffs tickets on sale starting Monday.