The “Panthers” defeated the Boston “Bruins” team at home with a score of 6:4 (4:1, 1:1, 1:2).
Balinskis played 15 minutes and 20 seconds, of which four minutes and 43 seconds he was on the court in the majority. The Latvian defender stood out in the middle of the second period with an assist on the goal scored by Džana Gadjović, helping to make it 5-1. Balinski also had two penalty minutes, an intercepted pass and a positive efficiency coefficient of +1.
Sam Bennett scored two goals for the winners, Sam Reinhardt and Evan Rodriguez scored 1+1, and Etu Luostarinen scored another goal.
Charlie McAvoy scored 1+1 for “Bruins”, while Trent Frederiks, Pavel Zaha and David Pastrniaks scored one goal each.
The Panthers are tied for second in the Eastern Conference with two points per game. The Florida team will play the next match on Thursday, when they will meet the hockey players of Ottawa “Senators”.
Last season, the Panthers won their first Stanley Cup, beating the Edmonton Oilers 4-3 in the finals.