Before things got dangerous, however, the Bruins took the lead when Johnny Beecher redirected a wrist throw from Mark Kastelic through Sergei Bobrovsky's 5-hole.

It was the first goal of the year for Beecher, a third of the Boston Stranglers' fourth line.

The Panthers responded quickly, taking advantage of Mason Lohrei, whose pass to Hampus Lindholm behind his own net was passed straight to Jeremy Swayman's doorstep. The Bruins goaltender may have pushed the puck up the middle himself, but the next Panther, Anton Lundell, got credit for it.

Then things got ugly.

AJ Greer started things off by ramming David Pastrnak into the boards from behind. Pastrnak's comrade Pavel Zacha immediately sets his sights on Greer, the ex-Bruin who probably won't be invited to a meeting any time soon.

Greer was inexplicably not penalized for the dangerous hit, but instead was sent off along with Zacha for fighting.

Bruins coach Jim Montgomery and his charges were upset about not being called out, and only got angrier when Charlie McAvoy was sent off for cross-checking Carter Verhaeghe. McAvoy got his money's worth with a few good shots, but the Panthers conceded.

Just five seconds into the infraction, Sam Reinhart whistled a whistle over Swayman's blocker, giving the Panthers a 2-1 lead.

Pastrnak, perhaps still smarting from the Greer attack, rocked Reinhart with a shoulder-to-chest punch. Florida's Nate Schmidt tried to go after Pastrnak, but Brad Marchand interrupted him and knocked him to the ground.

Brandon Carlo equalized at the start of the second period and benefited from increased pressure from the fourth line.

Kastelic and Cole Koepke held the Panthers tight, and Koepke brought the puck to the middle, where Carlo calmly shot it high past Bobrovsky.

Greer was sent off for interference, and although the Bruins' power play finally showed signs of life, the Panthers struck shorthanded.

Reinhart grabbed the bag from Matt Poitras and went the distance, smashing the net as Poitras held on dangerously. Reinhart pushed the puck past Swayman for his second goal of the day and second shorthanded goal against the Bruins this season.

Lundell doubled the lead when he took a stretch pass from Gustav Forsling and passed Swayman.

Lohrei got a goal back when the defenseman made a clever move around Evan Rodrigues (who had committed to blocking the shot) and fired a shot over Bobrovsky's blocker to make it 4-3 after two minutes.

Jim McBride can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @globejimmcbride.