Zacha scores game-winning goal in OT; Bruins improve to 8-0-1
The goal was Zacha's 4th career OT goal
The Boston Bruins are off to another stellar start this year, and they weren’t going to let the Florida Panthers stop it just yet.
“It was an important win, I think,” Zacha told reporters. “You know especially after last year, you know this game meant a little bit more. We’re happy we won.”
In last year’s playoffs, the Florida Panthers ended the Bruin’s record-setting season with a first-round elimination.
The Bruins found themselves down 2-0 after the first period.
Brad Marchand cut the lead in half with a goal off of a feed from Jake DeBrusk four minutes into the second period. Charlie McAvoy tied the game 2-2 seven minutes into the third period.
This energy was short-lived after McAvoy was sent off the ice halfway through the third period after he elbowed Oliver Ekman-Larsson in the head.
The Bruins were able to kill off the five-minute powerplay and send the game to overtime.
Zacha’s overtime goal came with 84 seconds left on the clock.
“The [defense] kinda went away, so I was just looking for where it was open in the far side and I’m happy that I hit it low blocker there,” Zacha said.
Zacha voiced his opinion on the struggles the team faced during the first period.
“I think it was a hard game to come back after the period we had and I think we have to have a little bit better starts against a team like this,” Zacha said.
Head Coach Jim Montgomery also had a few words to say about the first period.
“The careless place in the middle either in the offensive zone or approaching the offensive blue line led to them just coming at us wave after wave,” Montgomery told reporters. “They looked super fast and we looked super slow.”
Bruins goaltender Linus Ullmark stopped 35 of 37 shots by the Panthers and improved to 4-0-1 in the goal.
“It was a very gutsy win and we stuck with it all 60 plus minutes,” Ullmark told reporters. “We all know what happened last year, so obviously it going to be a little bit more of an emotional game for us.”
The Bruins improved to 8-0-1 with the OT win. The team will host the Toronto Maple Leafs at TD Garden on Thursday, November 11.
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