Coyle's Late First Period Goal and Shootout Winner Help Bruins Upset Undefeated Panthers

The Boston Bruins' Charlie Coyle scored his 3rd goal of the season and provided the eventual shootout winner to help the B's break Florida's franchise record best start Saturday night at TD Garden.

Coyle provided the first goal of the game with just 12 seconds left in the first period, finally breaking the ice on what had been a scoreless tie for nearly 20 whole minutes. Florida later got on the board when Anthony Duclair slapped one past Bruins goalie Linus Ullmark a mere 13 seconds into the 2nd period to make it 1-1. That would be the only goal by either team that period, just like in the first 20 minutes of play, officially making this matchup a textbook defensive slugfest.

The 3rd period of play did provide a little more action than the other two. Roughly 8 minutes in, Alexsander Barkov, the OT hero from Florida's win in Detroit the previous night, got his 6th goal of the season past Ullmark to give the Cats back the lead. And with under 7 minutes to go in the 3rd, Charlie McAvoy whacked one past Florida goalie Spencer Knight to tie things up again at 2.

In the shootout, Florida's Jonathan Huberdeau went first for the Cats and was denied entry by Ullmark. The Bruins' first shooter was Jake DeBrusk, and he too was stopped by the pads of Spencer Knight. Alexsander Barkov went 2nd for the Panthers but just like Huberdeau, was denied by Ullmark. Charlie Coyle's attempt proved successful as he was able to whistle it past Knight. With a 3rd consecutive save from Ullmark, the Bruins won the duel with the Panthers and spoiled their perfect record, leaving only one unbeaten team in the league this season in the Carolina Hurricanes, who were off that night.

Boston gets a well-deserved 5-day break before their next game, a Thursday night home tilt against the Detroit Red Wings at 7 PM. For Florida, they also get a 5-day break before heading back home to Sunrise to face the Washington Capitals at 7 PM. Both games will stream on ESPN+.