Torey Krug bailed out the Boston Bruins on a night the NHL leaders didn't have their best.
Krug scored 4:08 into overtime, Patrice Bergeron also had a goal and the Bruins beat the Florida Panthers 2-1 Thursday for their fourth straight win.
Moments before he scored, Krug led a 2-on-1 rush with David Pastrnak that was disrupted by MacKenzie Weegar's poke check. Pastrnak recovered the puck in the corner and passed to Krug, who wheeled into the high slot and slapped the winner past Chris Driedger.
“No fear. Just trying to let the screen set up and try to shoot back against the traffic,” Krug said. “It was just a matter of if it was going to go in or not.”
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Jaroslav Halak stopped 32 shots for the Bruins.
“I didn’t think we had our best, our B game for the most part," Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said. “I didn’t love our game, but I loved the fact we stayed in the game and gave ourselves a chance to win.”
Driedger made 25 saves and Weegar scored, but Florida dropped a franchise-worst eighth straight home game and lost its fourth game in a row overall.
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The game was a marked improvement from the past few games for the Panthers, who salvaged a much-needed point.
“We’ve got to look on the bright side of things, we stemmed the tide as far as playing the right way," coach Joel Quenneville said. "We still have some time here and have to get points in every single game going forward, that’s got to be the mindset”
This was Driedger's first start since being recalled from AHL Springfield on Tuesday.
Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo was elbowed in the face by Evgenii Dadonov in the second period. It was initially ruled a major penalty, then reduced to a minor on review. Carlo did not return to the game.
Weegar put the Panthers ahead when his shot from the high slot slipped by a screened Halak 6:55 into the second period.
“No one likes to lose, especially after the effort we put in tonight,” Weegar said. “I thought we battled hard throughout the whole 60 minutes. It's just a (bad) feeling.”
Bergeron tied it on the power play four minutes later, getting his 30th of the season by redirecting Krug's shot. Bergeron has scored at least 30 goals in three straight seasons.
NOTES: Panthers G Sergei Bobrovsky missed his second game with a lower-body injury. ... C Lucas Wallmark, acquired from Carolina on Feb. 24, recorded his first point with the Panthers with an assist on Weegar’s goal.
UP NEXT
Bruins: Host Tampa Bay on Saturday.
Panthers: Host Montreal on Saturday.
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