Jesper Boqvist's OT winner lifts Bruins over Panthers, 3-2

BOSTON — The ever-growing hatred between the Bruins and Panthers was on full display in a playoff-like atmosphere at TD Garden on Saturday.

And fortunately for the B’s, this one had a happier ending than last April’s playoff matchup.

The B’s could not hold a one-goal lead in the third, but Jesper Boqvist lifted the B’s to a 3-2 overtime win with a shortside snipe 2:05 into the OT.

The win pushed the B’s lead over the Panthers to five points for the Atlantic Division crown.

Brad Marchand had a chance to win it with 44 seconds left in regulation when he found himself all alone in front but could not lift the puck over a prone Sergei Borovsky, who made a great pad save before Gustav Forsling stopped Morgan Geekie’s follow up attempt.

The Bruins had to settle for a 1-1 tie after the first 20 minutes, and the Panthers had to be pleased with that result considering the B’s had three power plays in the opening 20 minutes with little to show for it.

Meanwhile, the capricious contours of the Garden handed the Panthers a gift on the opening shift. Looking for a change, Vladimir Tarasenko dumped the puck into the left corner and made his way to the bench. But the puck bounced off a stanchion in the corner and ricocheted directly into the wide-open slot for Matthew Tkachuk, who snapped the go-ahead goal past Linus Ullmark for the 1-0 Florida lead just 37 seconds into the game.

But the B’s didn’t wait long to tie it.

Hampus Lindholm made a nice play at the left point to keep the puck in and Pavel Zacha fed it down along the wall to Danton Heinen, who hit Charlie McAvoy coming down the slot. McAvoy ripped a low, glove-side wrister that beat Sergei Bobrovsky at 5:42 for McAvoy’s career-high 11th of the season.

Then the Panthers paraded to the box, but the B’s power plays got progressively worse with each opportunity and they could not make the Panthers pay.

The B’s penalty kill was more effective than the PP, however, and they were able to kill off two straight Panther advantages late in the first and at the start of the second.

The grudges came to the forefront in the second period, as every whistle featured a a tempestuous scrum. Parker Wotherspoon was called for roughing Sasha Barkov, which the B’s killed.

But when Tkachuk rammed Wotherspoon into the end boards — he was called for interference, but it could have been any number of things — the B’s power play finally clicked. With Tkachuk stewing in the box, Charlie Coyle (25) gave the Bruins their first lead of the game at 15:45 when Marchand, from high on the left wing, slipped a pass to Coyle in the slot for the quick one-timer that beat Bobrovsky.

The B’s had a chance to take a two-goal lead late in the second when Wotherspoon sent a great diagonal pass to David Pastrnak, but the sharpshooter heeled the puck wide.

The lead could not be held, however, as the Panther tied it up at 5:14 on a 4-on-4. With Anton Lundell in the box for hooking and McAvoy going for embellishment, Barkov tied it up. Sam Reinhart ripped a shot from the right circle that Ullmark stopped but gave up the rebound for an easy goal for Barkov.