National Hockey League
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Boston 4, Florida 1
When: 7:00 PM ET, Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Where: TD Banknorth Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
Referees: Dean Morton, Brad Watson
Linesmen: Michel Cormier, Tony Sericolo
Attendance: 17565

Bruins 4, Panthers 1: David Krejci recorded his third career hat trick and Chad Johnson remained undefeated at home as Boston skated to its seventh consecutive victory over Florida.

Jarome Iginla tallied for the second straight game and added an assist for the Bruins, who have won two in a row after dropping a pair following the Olympic break (2-1-1). Johnson turned aside 23 shots to improve to 7-0-0 at TD Garden.

Defenseman Brian Campbell scored and former Bruin Tim Thomas finished with 35 saves for the Panthers, who acquired goaltender Roberto Luongo and forward Steve Anthony from Vancouver earlier in the day for netminder Jacob Markstrom and forward Shawn Matthias.

Boston got the early jump as Krejci deflected Florida defenseman Tom Gilbert's ill-advised pass from behind his own net before deking Thomas to the ice for an easy goal at 7:29 of the first period. The Bruins doubled the advantage 3 1/2 minutes later as Jordan Caron's blast from the left faceoff circle caromed off the mask of Thomas and right to Iginla, who blasted the puck into the net from the right faceoff dot.

Krejci scored with 48 seconds left in the middle period, beating Thomas under the crossbar from the high slot. Campbell got Florida on the scoreboard with 7:13 remaining as his backhanded bid inadvertently was deflected into the net by Bruins defenseman Matt Bartkowski, but Krejci completed the hat trick with an empty-net tally.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Boston RW Loui Eriksson sat out with what coach Claude Julien described as a "minor issue." Caron played in his place and notched an assist in his first appearance since Jan. 27. ... Florida sent D Mike Weaver to Montreal for a fifth-round pick in the 2015 draft. Weaver notched six assists in 55 games this season. ... Panthers RW Krys Barch flexed his muscles by fighting Bruins LW Milan Lucic in the first period before tangling with RW Shawn Thornton in the second.
Top Game Performances
 
Florida   Boston
Brian Campbell 1 Points David Krejci 3
Brian Campbell 1 Goals David Krejci 3
Sean Bergenheim 1 Assists Jarome Iginla 1
N/A Power Play Goals N/A
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Tim Thomas .921 Save Percentage Chad Johnson .958
Tim Thomas 35 Saves Chad Johnson 23
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Florida 24 1 0-3 2-2 14 29
Boston 39 4 0-2 3-3 16 36
Upcoming Games
  • Boston will play their next game at home against Washington. The Bruins have a W/L % of .564 after a win and .773 after a loss.
  • Florida will play their next game at home against Buffalo. The Panthers have a W/L % of .333 after a win and .395 after a loss.