Eyssimont's goal is the story inside the story. Boston called him up from Providence to replace the injured James Hagens, and the projected lines put him straight onto the 2nd line with Fraser Minten and Geekie. In his first game in that spot, he scored and his linemate Geekie scored. Losing a rookie center to IR was supposed to be Boston's lineup problem. On Sunday it was barely noticeable.
Florida's only goal came from Carter Verhaeghe, set up by Brady Tkachuk and Matthew Tkachuk. Brady came in having scored both of Florida's 1st-period goals in Washington, and this time he had an assist. The Panthers had scored 5 goals in 3 of their 4 games before Saturday. Against a rested Bruins team, without Barkov, Marchand or Vilmanis, they scored once and never got a 2nd.
The line score shows how the game went. After the opening flurry, the 2nd period ended 0-0. That was the period that sank Florida in Washington, when a 2-1 lead turned into a deficit. This time the Panthers held their own through the middle 20 minutes, but trailing by 2 goals there didn't help much. Boston scored once more in the 3rd and finished it at 4-1.
Jeremy Swayman was back in net after Michael DiPietro started in Pittsburgh, and Boston finished with a .974 save percentage. The only puck that beat him was Verhaeghe's. Florida's forward group was missing 3 regulars and playing a 2nd game in 2 days, and it couldn't get much past Swayman. NESN described it as a penalty-filled game, and the Bruins converted when it mattered with Geekie's power-play goal.
The Bruins are now 13-4-1 and have won 4 straight, and this was their most complete game of the run. Florida drops to 9-7-2 with 2 straight losses, and the road trip goes on to Columbus. The Panthers still aren't getting back the players they need most: Barkov and Marchand are traveling on IR, and Vilmanis is expected to miss a few more games.
The schedule spot the preview pointed to played out exactly as expected. A rested home team scored early, a tired visiting team couldn't keep up, and Boston didn't need to do anything in the final 40 minutes except avoid mistakes.
