Recap: Bruins drop in Atlantic with 3-1 loss to Senators

The loss cements Toronto as the first round’s foe.

The Boston Bruins wrapped up their regular season with a 3-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators to drop to second in the Atlantic Division heading into playoffs on Tuesday night at the TD Garden.

There isn’t too much to say about this one, which had the writing on the wall for the same outcome as the night before.

The Bruins only had three shots on net in the first period and then allowed the Senators to score twice within a minute in the second frame,

But if there was a silver lining in the game, it was the third period for the team and finding the back of the net on the power play.

Jim Montgomery said the third was their best period and a “good brand of hockey,” reversing their slow game and getting 23 shots on net.

Pavel Zacha capitalized on the power play which looked solid for the most part in both man-advantage opportunities in the final 20 minutes.

The Bruins went for it in the final minutes of the period on the power play, pulling Linus Ullmark for the extra attacker with the offensive zone faceoff, but Artem Zub intercepted a David Pastrnak pass in the neutral zone to score shorthanded and end the game in Ottawa’s favor.

Overall, it wasn’t the best way to close out the season. Montgomery said he felt they started slow and needed to dig in better and draw penalties. When they ended up on the power play, he liked their response and directness to the net.

But he said they are going to need to work on their habits and details — which weren’t there today — to get ready for Game 1 of the first round.

Stay tuned for Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs coverage, which looks to get underway on Saturday.

Here are the highlights from Tuesday’s game:

First period:

Scoreless

Second period:

The Senators opened the scoring at 10:03 of the second period.

Jiri Smejkal threw a wrist shot on net that trickled past Linus Ullmark. 1-0 Senators.

The Senators quickly took a two-goal lead at 10:54 of the second period.

Drake Batherson found Jakob Chychrun inside the left-wing circle where he put a wrist shot between Ullmark’s stick and the post. 2-0 Senators.

Third period:

The Bruins bounced back at 12:44 of the third period on the power play.

Pavel Zacha picked up Kevin Shattenkirk’s rebound for a backhander top-shelf past Anton Forsberg. 2-1 game.

The Senators regained a two-goal lead with a shorthanded, empty-net goal at 18:21 of the third period from Artem Zub. Final score: 3-1 Senators.