David Pastrnak's instant reaction to ending Bruins' skid with fluke OT winner

Pastrnak scores winner on strange deflection to end Bruins losing streak

The Boston Bruins went into their game Saturday on the road against the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers with a six-game losing streak. While they were outplayed and outshot by the Panthers for large portions of the game, they got a lucky deflection in overtime on an attempted pass by David Pastrnak to earn a 4-3 victory.

Pastrnak was attempting to send a pass to Elias Lindholm in the dying seconds of overtime but the puck deflected off the stick of Panthers forward Sam Reinhart and floated into the net past goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky.

Pastrnak was thrilled that the Bruins could end their losing streak. “What a big win for us. We needed it,” Pastrnak said. “Lucky we got a power play in the OT and a lucky goal, so we'll take it.”

The winning goal came with 2 seconds left in the extra session, and it mirrored Florida's tying goal that sent the game into overtime. Reinhart scored that goal with 3 seconds left in regulation when his shot deflected high over the glove of Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman and settled into the net. That goal tied the score at 3-3, and earned the Panthers a point. Florida is the only team in the NHL that has not lost a game by one goal in regulation.

Panthers dominated Bruins for large portions of the game

The Bruins were able to build one-goal leads three different times, but the Panthers were able to dictate the pace of the game throughout. They fired 109 shots toward Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman, while Boston managed just 37 shots toward Bobrovsky's net.

While Florida head coach Paul Maurice obviously did not like the results, he was happy with the way his team played. “We played well, we're over 100 in shot attempts,” Maurice said. “Credit to the guys for staying right on it until the final second or two.”

The Bruins had taken a 3-2 lead on a goal by Oliver Wahlstrom at the 2:06 mark of the third period. The goal was Wahlstrom's first in a Bruins uniform as he found the rebound of a Charlie McAvoy shot and slid it underneath Bobrovsky.

Swayman finished the game with 40 saves on the 43 shots that reached the net. Bruins head coach Joe Sacco gave credit to the netminder for coming up with a big performance when the team needed it most. “He was the difference in the game,” Sacco said. “The goalie played very well and that's what you need sometimes when you are going through the situation we are. We had outstanding goaltending today, and that was the difference in the game.”