For an entire month it seemed like the Bruins could not lose, now they have lost two in a row for the first time in over a month. Florida Panthers goalie Jose Theodore made a season high 40 saves in a 2-0 shutout win over the Bruins Thrusday night at the TD Garden.
Tomas Kopecky and Kris Versteeg had the goals for the Panthers. Tim Thomas finished the night with 28 saves.
It was another frustrating night for the Bruins offensively, despite throwing 40 shots on net they were constantly foiled either by Theodore or the goal pipes behind him. The top line of Milan Lucic, David Krejci, and Nathan Horton were particularly snake-bitten getting off a team high 10 combined shots none of which could beat Theodore.
With the third period nearing its end the Panthers threw a shot from the blue line that Thomas stopped, the rebound went directly into the slot where no one could coral it before Kopecky could find it and fired past an already sprawled Thomas. Versteeg later iced the game with an empty net goal.
Winger Tyler Seguin, making his first start since his benching, finished the night with three shots on net in 18:18 minutes of ice time.
The Bruins had to play minus Daniel Pallie for most of the game. The fourth line winger took a hit along the boards from the recently acquired Krys Barch that upon further review looked to have caught him right on the head. Shawn Thornton quickly took Barch to task but Paillie did not return to the game. The team had no update on the status of Pallie.
With the loss the Panthers moved ahead of the Bruins in the Eastern Conference taking sole possession of second place. The Bruins will next face a Blue Jackets team that has improved its play since their last meeting Saturday night in Columbus.