Seven different players scored goals Saturday night, as the Boston Bruins beat the Florida Panthers 7-3 at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, Florida. The win clinches a playoff spot for Boston for the third straight year.
Noel Acciari got things started with his fifth goal of the season in the first period. The Bruins then would score five more in the second period to take a 6-2 lead and cruise to their fourth straight win. Brad Marchand, Zdeno Chara, Karson Kuhlman, Steven Kampfer, David Pastrnak, and Patrice Bergeron scored the other Boston goals. Chara becomes the 22nd defenseman in NHL history to score 200 goals. Jayce Hawryluk, Mike Hoffman, and Vincent Trocheck had the goals for Florida (33-30-12) who had their three game home winning streak snapped.
Jaroslav Halak made 31 saves for the win in the Boston net, while Sam Montembeault made 32 in the loss for Florida. The Bruins were 1-3 on the powerplay, while the Panthers were 1-1. Boston is now 46-20-9, and is seven points ahead of third place Toronto in the Atlantic Division. The Bruins are at Tampa Bay Monday night at 7:30 pm.
Meanwhile Saturday in NBA action the Boston Celtics blew a sizeable fourth quarter lead, and fell to the Charlotte Hornets 124-117 at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Boston led 112-94 with 8:21 left in the game, before being outscored 30-5 the rest of the way. The Celtics led by six at the end of the first quarter and by one at halftime, before extending it to nine at the end of the third. Boston took the 18 point lead when Jaylen Brown scored on a layup, but then Kemba Walker and Charlotte took over. Walker had 18 of the final 30 Hornets points, including four shots from behind the three point line to lead the hosts to the comeback win.
Kyrie Irving led the way for the 43-30 Celtics, with 31 points, seven rebounds, six assists, and two steals. Brown had 29 points and four rebounds. Marcus Morris had 15 points, nine rebounds, and four assists. Jayson Tatum and Terry Rozier both had 12 points, with Tatum adding six rebounds and four assists. Walker had a game high 36 points for 33-39 Charlotte. Walker also added 11 rebounds, nine assists, and two steals. Miles Bridges had 20 points, seven rebounds, three assists, and three steals. Marvin Williams and Malik Monk both had 13 points, while Dwayne Bacon also chipped in 11. The Celtics will host the San Antonio Spurs Sunday night at 7:30 pm.
