SUNRISE, Fla. -- Center Brad Marchand scored two goals on Friday night. Now he's hoping he's not suspended by the NHL.

Marchand's goals helped the Boston Bruins to a 3-1 win over their Atlantic Division rivals, the Florida Panthers, at the BB&T Center.

Boston improved to 4-0-0 on the road this season.

But with 2:06 left in the game, Marchand pushed Panthers defenseman Dmitry Kulikov from behind. Kulikov, who suffered a broken and bloody nose, remained on the ice for a couple of minutes.

"You don't want to see your guy go down with blood all over the ice," Panthers right winger Reilly Smith said.

Marchand was ejected, but Bruins coach Claude Julien is hoping that's the extent of the disciplinary action.

"It definitely was a penalty," Julien said. "But it was like (Kulikov) lost his balance, put his arms out and then his head hit the boards.

"Once the guy is bleeding, you have to give (Marchand) a game (misconduct penalty). It was nothing vicious. It was not a good hit. It's a hit that should be penalized, but I'm not sure it's a hit that should be suspendable."

The Bruins (5-3-1), who have the top-ranked power play in the NHL this season, got a pair of goals with the man advantage -- one by Marchand and the second by defenseman Zdeno Charra, who also had an assist in the game.

Florida (5-4-1), which went 3-for-3 on the power play in its previous game, a 4-1 win over Colorado, also scored on its special teams -- a goal by center Nick Bjugstad that came on a five-on-three situation.

But Boston goalie Tuukka Rask (3-3-1), who struggled to start this season but has allowed just one goal in his past two games, helped Boston kill off the rest of that Florida power play.

"He shut us down on a lot of plays that could have changed the game," Smith said. "He's a world-class goalie."

The Panthers finished just 1-for-6 on their power play. The Bruins, who went 2-for-3 on their power play, killed two penalties in the final five minutes, including the on Marchand.

Florida goalie Roberto Luongo (3-4-1) took the loss in a battle between two elite goalies. Rask is the 2014 Vezina Award winner, and Luongo is the leader in wins among active goalies.

"Rask outplayed me," said Luongo, who made 27 saves -- four fewer than his counterpart. "I could have been sharper. I didn't have good jump tonight."

Boston opened the scoring with 9:22 elapsed in the first period. Florida was down a man when Smith -- who was acquired from Boston in the offseason in exchange for fellow right winger Jimmy Hayes -- was sent off for hooking.

The Bruins took advantage, screening Luongo on a shot from the point by Charra. Marchand, who created the traffic, got the tip-in goal.

Marchand, who has four goals this season, made it 2-0 with 7:07 elapsed in the second period. After a shot by defenseman Torey Krug was stopped by Luongo, Marchand swooped in and scored on a backhander.

Just 21 seconds later, Panthers center Brandon Pirri was sent off for tripping. That opened things up for Charra's tip-in, his first goal of the season. Bruins center David Krejci, who drew the tripping penalty, also earned the primary assist on the play.

Bjugstad's goal, which came with 11:32 elapsed in the second period, came off a scramble in front of Rask. It was the fourth goal of the season for Bjugstad.

"It was a five-on-three that basically became a five-on-two because of a broken stick," Julien said.

There were no goals in the third period, but the Bruins had already done enough damage.

Last season, when the Bruins had their seven-year streak of making the postseason snapped, Boston finished 17th in goals scored -- that was down 14 spots from the previous year.

Now, the Bruins seem to be clicking again -- offensively and defensively.

"Our power play was good," Julien said, "and our penalty kill was good."

NOTES: Two-thirds of Florida's top line -- RW Jaromir Jagr (ribs, groin) and C Aleksander Barkov (hand) -- sat out. ... Panthers LW Logan Shaw, 23, made his NHL debut. The Panthers' third-round pick in 2011, Shaw was recalled from Portland of the AHL on Thursday, when D Dylan Olsen was sent down. ... Florida also scratched D Steven Kampfer. ... D Brian Campbell, 36, is the only player left on the Panthers since 2011, when GM Dale Tallon took over. ... Bruins D Kevan Miller (lower-body) returned to the lineup. ... Boston scratched C Joonas Kemppainen and D Zach Trotman. ... Bruins D Dennis Seidenberg returned to practice this week for the first time since back surgery but is expected to miss another month. ... Both teams' backup goalies are off to 2-0 starts -- Florida's Al Montoya and Boston's Jonas Gustavsson.



a