Stanley Cup Playoffs Round 2, Game 4: Florida Panthers 3, Boston Bruins 2

The Florida Panthers rallied from a two-goal deficit to beat the Boston Bruins 3-2 in Game 4 of their second-round Stanley Cup Playoffs series on Sunday at TD Garden.

Florida now leads the series 3-1. It’s first chance to clinch a spot in the Eastern Conference Final is Tuesday.

Anton Lundell, Sam Bennett and Aleksander Barkov scored for Florida, and Sergei Bobrovsky was perfect in the final two periods after giving up a pair of goals in the first.

And the Panthers have the lead

Florida took its first lead of the game with 12:29 left in regulation on an Aleksander Barkov goal. It was the captain’s fifth goal of the playoffs.

Sam Bennett ties it on the power play

Oh, the narratives!

Florida’s Sam Bennett, who has quickly become the villain of this series, tied the game late on a Panthers power play early in the third.

The Bruins challenged for goaltender interference — Bennett pushed Charlie Coyle into goaltender Jeremy Swayman before sending the loose puck into the net — but the call stood.

Second intermission thoughts

The Panthers are making things interesting.

They still have a commanding lead in shots on goal (28-15) and scoring chances (25-12). Sergei Bobrovsky has found his groove as well, stopping all 10 shots that came his way in the middle frame after giving up two in the first. He’s a perfect 5 of 5 against high-danger shots.

Should be an interesting third period.

Anton Lundell cuts Panthers’ deficit to one

It took until their 27th shot on goal, but the Panthers finally got one past Jeremy Swayman with 5:09 left in the second period on an Anton Lundell shot from the left circle on a behind-the-net pass from Evan Rodrigues.

Meanwhile, Sergei Bobrovsky has come up big in the second period so far, stopping all seven shots he has faced thus far in the middle frame.

Relatively quiet start to second

Not too much to report through the first 10 and a half minutes of the second period. The Panthers killed off the one penalty they have faced so far — with left-handed defenseman Dmitry Kulikov notably playing with a right-handed stick for the final 20ish seconds. Twelve total shots on goal — seven for Florida, five for Boston — but no goals yet in the frame.

First intermission thoughts

The Panthers are down 2-0 after 20 minutes, but it’s not for a lack of chances. Florida entered intermission with a 15-5 edge in shots on goal and 17-2 advantage in scoring chances (including 8-0 in high-danger chances, per Natural Stat Trick).

Boston goaltender Jeremy Swayman, who was fantastic in the Bruins’ first-round series against Toronto and in Game 1 against Florida, has put on a clinic in net so far on Sunday.

The Panthers will need to find a way to get past him, just like they did in Games 2 and 3, if they want to get back into this one.

And, as expected, the crowd is piling on a smattering of boos any time Sam Bennett touches the puck. Boston forward Pat Maroon already tried to fight Bennett, who declined.

Another Bruins goal

Boston doubled its lead late in the first period on a Brandon Carlo shot from the point through traffic.

The goal came shortly after the Bruins killed off its second penalty of the period.

Bruins quickly capitalize on power play

It took all of eight seconds for Boston to score on its first power play opportunity, with David Pastrnak firing a shot from the right circle that beat Sergei Bobrovsky.

1-0 Brins with 11:07 left in the first period

Panthers weathering early Bruins physicality

Through the first 8:45, the Bruins have laid out six hits but have put just two shots on goal against Florida’s Sergei Bobrovsky.

The Panthers’ defense has been steady just like it has the past two games. The offense, meanwhile, has six shots on goal against Jeremy Swayman — including three on a power play that came up empty.

Boston is heading on its first power play of the night. Game is scoreless at the moment.

Series recap and look ahead

▪ Game 1: The Bruins scored goals on each of their final three shots of the second period and never looked back to beat the Panthers 5-1 on Monday at Sunrise’s Amerant Bank Arena.

Boston goaltender Jeremy Swayman made 38 saves, including stopping all 16 Panthers shots that came his way in the third period.

▪ Game 2: Aleksander Barkov had two goals and two assists, Sam Reinhart had four assists and Brandon Montour had three points as Florida blew out Boston 6-1 on Wednesday in a game that became contentious in the third period with 12 combined game misconducts.

▪ Game 3: The Panthers scored four times on the power play and held the Bruins to just 17 shots on goal in a 6-2 win on Friday at TD Garden to take a 2-1 lead in the series.

▪ Game 4: Tonight

▪ Game 5: Tuesday, Sunrise’s Amerant Bank Arena, 7 p.m., ESPN

▪ Game 6 (if necessary): Friday, Boston’s TD Garden, Time and TV network TBD

▪ Game 7 (if necessary): Sunday, Sunrise’s Amerant Bank Arena, Time and TV network TBD

Pregame reading

Need to catch up ahead of Game 4? Here are the highlights of the Miami Herald’s coverage over the past two days.

▪ “He plays so big”: Panthers’ Sam Bennett makes big statement in return from injury

▪ Panthers and Bruins have differing opinions on Sam Bennett-Brad Marchand first-period collision

▪ Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov is unfazed by the Bruins’ antics: “Everyone’s trying to ... get under your skin.”

▪ When the Panthers needed it most, the power play came through in Game 3 win vs Boston

▪ Amid loud atmosphere — and thrown water bottles — Panthers’ Montour remains a calm presence

▪ Vladimir Tarasenko stays the course, why Cousins was scratched and more Panthers notes from Game 3