Bruins fall to Panthers again, 4-3

Steve Conroy, Boston Herald on Oct 14, 2024

Published in Hockey

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BOSTON — No Sasha Barkov? No Matthew Tkachuk?

No problem for the Florida Panthers, who still managed to get under the Bruins’ skin and come away with a 4-3 win without Barkov (ankle) and Tkachuk (illness) at TD Garden in a Columbus Day matinee.

After A.J. Greer caught David Pastrnak with a questionable hit from behind in the first period, the B’s started taking undisciplined penalties and they soon found themselves in a game of catch-up that they are currently ill-equipped to win.

“Again, they’re winning the mental side of the battle on us,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said. “Pasta got hit and I love what (Pavel Zacha) did, he went in and defended him. That’s great. But the penalties after that? It’s just not disciplined. And it’s all four games that we take at least four minors. Can’t win hockey games that way. And we can’t lose as many battles as we do. I mean, they’re the standard right now for winning battles. We’re not up to that level yet and we have to vastly improve our level.”

Captain Brad Marchand downplayed the lack of discipline.

“I didn’t think it was that bad (today). There’s other areas where I’m more concerned about,” Marchand said. “Our compete level, attention to details need to be a little better. We need to win more battles. It’s definitely something that they had the edge in. ... If we do that, our game will be back where we want it.”

While the B’s got gashed for a Florida power-play goal, they went 0 for 4 on their own power play and also gave up short-handed goal. The B’s are 2 for 18 on the PP to start the season.

“Lost battles,” Montgomery said. “It’s the same thing. We’re not coming up with enough pucks so we’re not getting any O-zone time if you’re not winning draws and not executing on your entries.”

The Bruins went into the game with a focus to keep their cool after going haywire in the season opener in Florida last week, but it didn’t take long for them to lose it. And as usual, you could see their reasoning.

After Johnny Beecher scored on a deflection of a Mark Kastelic shot and then Anton Lundell evened it up on a 4-on-4 off a bad Mason Lohrei pass, the former Bruin Greer ran Pastrnak close to the boards. Pastrnak did not hit the boards but did get checked into a Panther and he was slow to get up. By then, Zacha and Greer had dropped the gloves and were sent to the box.

On the next shift, Charlie McAvoy crosschecked Carter Verhaeghe and was given two minutes for the infraction. The Panthers needed just six seconds of it for Sam Reinhart to beat Jeremy Swayman over the blocker from the slot.

Still, Pastrnak wanted his pound of flesh. A minute after the Reinhart goal, Pastrnak lined him up in the Florida zone and blasted him. It was a clear interference, and Nate Schmidt tried going after Pastrnak. But Marchand jumped in and took Schmidt to the ice.

The Panthers got a power play out of the Pastrnak interference, but they could not cash in.

In the second, the Bruins tied it up at 5:08 on yet another hard-working shift by the fourth line. After the forwards kept the play alive, the puck came out to Brandon Carlo, who beat Sergei Bobrovsky with a high wrister.

But for the second time in as many games between the two teams, the Panthers burnt the B’s with a shorty. With Greer in the box for interference, Matt Poitras was caught playing with the puck along the boards. Reinhart jumped his spin move and went the other way. It looked like the B’s had cut off Reinhart’s rush, but Jesper Boqvist kept the puck alive and Reinhart swept it under a mass of Bruin bodies.

Then came a tough one. The B’s turned the puck over in the Florida zone and Gus Forsling quickly transitioned the puck up to Lundell. On a partial break-in, Lundell simply beat Swayman under the blocker arm from the right circle.

But the B’s did get one back before the period was out. Kastelic notched his third assist of the game when he dished to Lohrei out near the left point and the talented young defenseman did the rest. He took the puck deep and beat Bobrovsky with a high, shortside wrister to make it 4-3 going into the third.

Zacha had a great chance to tie it six minutes into the third when Pastrnak sent him in alone but Bobrovsky just got his pad on it.

The B’s later got a power play when Aaron Ekblad tackled Poitras at side of the net. The B’s had their chances but could not convert.

The B’s pulled Swayman with 1:57 left in regulation, but Pastrnak was called for slashing with 49 seconds left to end the hopes of a comeback.

Now they head out west for a difficult road trip to Colorado, Utah and Nashville. If they don’t make the necessary adjustments to their game, they’ll be in trouble.