The Florida Panthers have sole possession of first place in the Atlantic Division following their 4-1 win over the Boston Bruins on Thursday.
The win gave Florida 91 points and a two-point edge over the second-place Tampa Bay Lightning in the division. With Boston entering the contest right behind Florida, this victory helps in multiple ways. The Panthers now have a more comfortable five-point edge over Boston for third place.
There are eight games remaining on Florida's schedule as it looks to return to the playoffs for the first time since the 2011-12 campaign. While the Panthers have yet to clinch a postseason spot, this win made that goal slightly more achievable. Florida is in third place overall in the Eastern Conference.
With his team trailing by one, Reilly Smith decided to change that. At the 13:51 mark of the second period, Smith put his 24th goal of the season into the back of the net. The goal came with assists from Vincent Trocheck and Jussi Jokinen.
Roughly five minutes would then go by before Trocheck scored a goal of his own. Alex Petrovic picked up an assist on what was Trocheck's 24th score of the season. In addition, he goal came during a Boston power play.
Florida would add another two goals in the third period to extend the lead. Jokinen's 16th goal of the season had a helping-hand on it from Dmitry Kulikov and Steven Kampfer. Jonathan Huberdeau also scored an empty net goal as the clock ran out. The goal was Huberdeau's 14th of the season.
The Panthers will travel to Tampa Bay on Saturday for a critical game against the Lightning. Depending on the results of Friday's Lightning game, the two teams could be tied when Saturday's contest begins.
