In desperate need of four points in a set of back-to-backs against the two teams immediately ahead of them in the Atlantic Division standings, the Boston Bruins got exactly that on Monday and Tuesday night, picking up a 5-4 win over the Florida Panthers and a 1-0 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning, both in overtime.

Goals from Patrice Bergeron (2), David Pastrnak, and Brett Connolly saw the Bruins ahead 4-1 on Florida after 20 minutes on Monday night, sending starting goaltender Roberto Luongo to an early shower. The B’s failed to keep it going against backup netminder Al Montoya, as Boston came out flat in the second and third periods, allowing Florida to tie the game and force overtime.

In the extra session, Boston newcomber John-Michael Liles sprung Ryan Spooner on a 2-on-1 with another Boston newcomber Lee Stempniak. Spooner shoveled a pass over to Stempniak, who unleashed a wrister past the outstretched glove of Montoya for the game-winning goal. The goal was Stempniak’s first with the Bruins in the winger’s fifth game since joining the squad at the NHL trade deadline.

Sixty minutes were not enough for the Bruins against Tampa Bay on Tuesday night either, but they needed just ten seconds in overtime to claim their second victory in as many nights.

After Bruins backup goalie Jonas Gustavsson made a career-high 42 saves in regulation, 34 of which coming in the second and third periods, to anchor the Boston defense, a Tampa Bay coverage breakdown off the opening drop of the overtime allowed star forward Brad Marchand to score his team-leading 34th goal of the season to give the Bruins a 1-0 victory. After Bergeron won the opening faceoff back to defenseman Torey Krug, Tampa winger J.T. Brown and defenseman Jason Garrison got mixed up on who to cover man-to-man, allowing Bergeron to receive a return pass from Krug and streak into the offensive zone and find Marchand for a layup on the back door.

With the pair of overtime wins, the Bruins now find themselves in a tie for first place in the Atlantic Division with Tampa Bay with a record of 38-23-7, with 83 points.

The Bruins return to TD Garden ice on Thursday night when they play host to the Carolina Hurricanes. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. and tickets are still available HERE.

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