Sports

Bergeron (2 goals, 2 assists) leads Bruins past Panthers 7-3

By The Associated Press

Boston Bruins v Montreal Canadiens MONTREAL, QC - MARCH 21: A detailed view of the Boston Bruins' logo is seen during the second period against the Montreal Canadiens at Centre Bell on March 21, 2022 in Montreal, Canada. The Boston Bruins defeated the Montreal Canadiens 3-2 in overtime. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)

By The Associated Press

BOSTON — Bruins coach Jim Montgomery watched his team let a four-goal lead turn into a 4-3 edge and wondered whether he needed to call a timeout to settle things down.

“They’re saying the right things on the bench. It’s not like I can call timeout and say anything better,” he said after Boston recovered from some mid-game sloppiness and beat the Florida Panthers 7-3 on Monday night.

“There wasn’t a sense of panic,” Montgomery said, “but there wasn’t a sense of urgency with our play, either.”

Patrice Bergeron scored a pair of third-period insurance goals after Boston almost blew a 4-0 lead, and the Bruins improved to 17-0-2 at home. Bergeron also had a pair of assists, and Linus Ullmark stopped 36 shots to earn his 10th consecutive win.

“If we can learn as we win, it’s better than learning when you lose. But then, the losses will come,” Montgomery said with a laugh, “and we’ll learn better.”

The Bruins opened a 4-0 lead early in the second period before the Panthers scored three times in five minutes to make it a one-goal game.

Montgomery said if he had a younger team, he would have called a timeout.

Instead, he let his veteran leaders do the talking.

“It’s easy to squeeze and panic,” Bergeron said. “I think when you take a breath you realize that we’re still up, but we’ve got to be better.”

David Krejci slammed home the rebound of a Hampus Lindholm shot that bounced off both goalposts and out, giving Boston a 5-3 lead midway through the second. It stayed that way until Bergeron took a long lead pass from Connor Clifton and beat Spencer Knight with 11 minutes to play.

The Bruins captain added another goal about three minutes later, backhanding in a rebound from the slot.

“We haven’t been great playing with the lead lately, and that seems to continue,” Montgomery said. “We’re a little loose right now, but we’re winning. So it’s a fine balance of how much you push, and how much you let guys work through things.”

Knight stopped 19 shots for the Panthers, who have lost four of their last six games

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