Florida Panthers at Boston Bruins
· National Hockey League
Marchand has 2 assists to help Panthers win 4-3 in his emotional return to Boston
Boston rallied to tie it after trailing 2-0 lead in the third period, then Marchand skated through the neutral zone and flipped the puck ahead to Eetu Luostarinen as he burst ahead of the last defender and beat Jeremy Swayman to make it 3-2 with 10 minutes to play.
With the Boston net empty, Morgan Geekie made it 3-3 with 1:31 left. But Verhaeghe broke the tie with 27 seconds to play.
Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 28 shots for the defending Stanley Cup champions, who snapped a four-game losing streak.
Swayman made 19 saves for Boston, which lost its fifth straight game after starting Marco Sturm's coaching tenure with three wins in a row.
Marchand received a standing ovation when he was the last player to leave the ice after the pregame warmups, and then another when the TD Garden scoreboard played a highlight video from his time in Boston.
The four-time All-Star and the last remaining member of Boston's 2011 Stanley Cup championship team, who was dealt to Florida at the trade deadline last season, broke down as he waved to the crowd and tapped his heart.
Marchand, who went on to help the Panthers win their second straight Stanley Cup title, drew a tripping penalty 33 seconds into the game and was swiping at the puck in the crease on the ensuing power play along with Mackie Samoskevich, who was credited with the goal.
A.J. Greer made it 2-0 in the second period. Pavel Zacha and Elias Lindholm also scored for Boston.
Boston hosts Anaheim on Thursday night.
Regular Season SeriesFLA leads series 1-0
Scoring Summary
 |
Goal | 1st Period 1:01 | Mackie Samoskevich Goal (2) Wrist Shot, assists: Brad Marchand (4), Anton Lundell (4) |
|
Goal | 2nd Period 2:01 | A.J. Greer Goal (2) Snap Shot, assists: Jonah Gadjovich (2) |
 |
Goal | 3rd Period 2:46 | Pavel Zacha Goal (2) Wrist Shot, assists: Casey Mittelstadt (1), Viktor Arvidsson (2) |
|
Goal | 3rd Period 4:46 | Elias Lindholm Goal (3) Tip-In, assists: David Pastrnak (5), Pavel Zacha (6) |
|
Goal | 3rd Period 9:58 | Eetu Luostarinen Goal (1) Snap Shot, assists: Brad Marchand (5), Aaron Ekblad (2) |
|
Goal | 3rd Period 18:29 | Morgan Geekie Goal (3) Wrist Shot, assists: Casey Mittelstadt (2), David Pastrnak (6) |
|
Goal | 3rd Period 19:34 | Carter Verhaeghe Goal (2) Wrist Shot, assists: Sam Bennett (1), Gustav Forsling (4) |
Statistics
 FLA |
 BOS |
|
|---|---|---|
| 16 | Blocked Shots | 7 |
| 26 | Hits | 23 |
| 2 | Takeaways | 11 |
| 23 | Shots | 31 |
| 1 | Power Play Goals | 1 |
| 3 | Power Play Opportunities | 5 |
| 33.3 | Power Play Percentage | 20.0 |
| 0 | Short Handed Goals | 0 |
| 0 | Shootout Goals | 0 |
| 30 | Faceoffs Won | 35 |
| 46.2 | Faceoff Win Percent | 53.8 |
| 18 | Giveaways | 15 |
| 8 | Total Penalties | 6 |
| 19 | Penalty Minutes | 15 |
Boston Bruins Injuries
| NAME, POS | STATUS | DATE |
|---|---|---|
| Hampus Lindholm, D | Out | Oct 21 |
Florida Panthers Injuries
| NAME, POS | STATUS | DATE |
|---|---|---|
| Dmitry Kulikov, D | Injured Reserve | Oct 15 |
| Matthew Tkachuk, LW | Injured Reserve | Oct 7 |
| Tomas Nosek, LW | Injured Reserve | Oct 7 |
| Aleksander Barkov, C | Injured Reserve | Oct 7 |
