Recap: Bruins fall to Panthers, 6-3, and drop Game 2

The Boston Bruins fell to the Florida Panthers, 6-3, dropping Game 2 at the TD Garden.

The first round series is now tied at a game apiece.

Brandon Montour netted two goals in the win for Florida. Lyon made 34 saves in the Panthers’ win while Linus Ullmark made 24 saves in the loss for the Bruins.

The Bruins were able to battle back in the first and second periods after falling behind, but they couldn’t recover from a two-goal deficit that quickly piled up.

Turnovers plagued the Bruins tonight and the team got away from their system in the third period.

They tried to make plays where there weren’t any. Instead of advancing the puck, the Bruins went for passes that were intercepted by the Panthers.

“Turnovers we had tonight were catastrophic,” Head Coach Jim Montgomery said.

A silver lining if there is any was Brad Marchand’s shorthanded goal. Marchand didn’t net any during the regular season.

As the game slipped away from them in the third, the Bruins also let emotions get the best of them and ended with four game misconducts.

SCOC asked Marchand about emotions running high at the end of the game and how the team will calm things down to start Game 3. Marchand responded that this game will be in the past and what happened at the third’s end won’t define how the team responds on Friday.

“The game’s over,” Brad Marchand said. “Emotions are done. Sometimes that happens in playoffs when the game starts getting away from you, but next game will not be dictated at all by tonight. Every play will be different. Everyone’s emotions will be different.

“Game’s over,” Marchand added. “Plays are over. We’ll worry about the next one.”

Montgomery was asked postgame if he’s thinking about changes on the backend for next game.

Montgomery responded, “I think it gives me pause to make changes everywhere.”

The Bruins head to Florida for Game 3 on Friday, April 21 for a 7:30 p.m. puck drop.

Here are tonight’s highlights:

First period:

Scoreless

Second period:

The Panthers opened the scoring at 1:42 of the second period.

Sam Bennett capitalized on a turnover after Brandon Carlo failed to clear the zone. Bennett picked up the puck to put a shot in the slot past Ullmark’s five-hole. 1-0 Panthers.

The Bruins tied the game at 12:13 of the second period with a shorthanded goal.

Tomas Nosek forced a turnover and the loose puck found Marchand’s stick. Marchand then let a wrist shot fly top-shelf past Alex Lyon’s glove. 1-1 game.

The Panthers retook the lead at 14:18 of the second period.

Matthew Tkachuk found Eric Staal in the center lane where he skated into the slot to throw a wrist shot past Ullmark’s blocker. 2-1 Panthers.

The Bruins tied the game on the power play at 17:01 of the second period.

Pavel Zacha sent a one-timer towards the net where parked at the paint, Tyler Bertuzzi tipped the shot in past Lyon. 2-2 tie game.

Third period:

The Panthers took the lead 22 seconds into the third on 4-on-4 play.

Montour threw a long shot on net from the blue line that beat Ullmark’s blocker. 3-2 Panthers.

The Panthers took a two-goal lead at 7:00 of the third period.

On a 2-on-1 against Dmitry Orlov in the slot, Tkachuk fed the puck to Carter Verhaeghe where he beat Ullmark up high. 4-2 Panthers.

The Panthers extended their lead at 12:30 of the third period when Montour added his second goal of the night.

Through traffic, Montour let another long shot fly past Ullmark’s glove. 5-2 Panthers.

Eetu Luostarinen added an empty-net goal for the Panthers at 17:35 of the third period. 6-2 Panthers.

The Bruins scored at 18:50 of the third period.

Taylor Hall’s shot trickled through Lyon’s five-hole. Final score: 6-3 Panthers.

---

Check out the post-game recap podcast here: