Panthers rally from 4 down, beat Bruins

Down four goals after two periods, Florida head coach Joel Quenneville switched goalies and the Panthers responded with the biggest comeback in club history.

Mike Hoffman scored one of four Florida goals in the third period and added the winner in a shootout as the Panthers rallied from a fourgoal deficit and beat the Bruins 54 in Boston on Tuesday night.

“Obviously, you don’t want to be down 40 at any point in the game — especially with only one period left,” Hoffman said. “But the guys in here stuck together, dug deep and just tried to chip away.”

The Panthers won a game they trailed by four goals for the first time since they joined the NHL as an expansion club in 199394.

Keith Yandle had a goal and two assists for Florida, and Sam Montembeault didn’t allow a goal after replacing Sergei Bobrovsky at the start of the third period.

Montembeault finished with 15 saves, six in overtime, and stopped Charlie McAvoy on Boston’s last chance in the shootout as the Panthers completed the comeback and gave Quenneville career victory No. 899.

“It’s huge. We never gave up. We talked to each other after the second,” Montembeault said.

Aaron Ekblad and Frank Vatrano also scored for Florida. Jonathan Huberdeau added three assists for the Panthers, tying him with Stephen Weiss for the most assists in club history with 249.

Florida won its second straight game in a shootout and picked up four points on a threegame road trip against the Islanders, Rangers and Bruins.

“We found a way to come up with big wins, and today was the biggest of them all,” Quenneville said.