Sam Bennett scored two goals as the Florida Panthers opened the defense of their first Stanley Cup title with a 6-4 win over the Boston Bruins on Tuesday night in Sunrise, Florida.
The Panthers also got goals from Eetu Luostarinen, Sam Reinhart (short-handed), Jonah Gadjovich and Evan Rodrigues. Reinhart and Rodrigues each added an assist. Last season, Reinhart finished second in the NHL with 57 goals.
Sergei Bobrovsky made 24 saves for the win.
Boston got goals from Pavel Zacha (short-handed), Charlie McAvoy, Trent Frederic and David Pastrnak (power play).
Bruins backup goalie Joonas Korpisalo made 29 saves in the loss. Starting Boston goalie Jeremy Swayman — who ended his contract dispute on Sunday by signing an eight-year, $66 million contract — did not play as he is not yet in game shape.
Before Tuesday, Boston had won five consecutive season openers. The Bruins have been eliminated from the playoffs by the Panthers in each of the past two seasons.
The Panthers dominated the first period on Tuesday, building a 4-1 lead.
Florida opened the scoring with 6:27 gone as Bennett knocked in a loose puck.
Luostarinen, just 64 seconds later, poked in another loose puck to give Florida a 2-0 lead.
Boston got on the board at 15:33 when Zacha scored short-handed with a wrist shot that went just under the bar.
Florida then scored twice in the period’s final 90 seconds. First, Reinhart got past McAvoy and zipped a short-handed goal just over Korpisalo’s left shoulder at 18:34. Then, with just 26 seconds left in the period, Bennett scored on a rebound.
With 9:12 expired in the second period, Florida made it 5-1 as its fourth line came through. Gadjovich scored on the rush off a great pass from Jesper Boqvist, who played for the Bruins last season.
Boston closed its deficit to 5-2 at 12:32 of the second period on McAvoy’s goal off a rebound.
The Panthers took a 6-2 lead at 6:26 of the third as Rodrigues scored with a wrist shot over Korpisalo’s stick.
Boston finished well as Frederic scored with 3:09 left and Pastrnak tallied with 1:45 remaining, but Florida held on for the win.
Carter Verhaeghe signs extension
After the game, the Panthers announced they had signed forward Carter Verhaeghe to an eight-year extension. It kicks in next season and averages $7 million a year.