Recap: Bruins outpowered by Panthers, 6-2, to trail series

Bruins’ PK allows Panthers to score four power-play goals.

The Boston Bruins fell 6-2 to the Florida Panthers to drop Game 3 and now trail the second-round series, 2-1 games as Florida power plays dug the team into a hole at the TD Garden on Friday night.

The Panthers scored four power-play goals during the game — two of which set the tone for the game after the Bruins began to gain some momentum.

After the Bruins only put up three shots on net in the first period and came out of the first 20 minutes trailing, a couple big shifts from the Bruins offensive and pinching defenders began to fuel some opportunities.

But just as the B’s ramped up offensive zone coverage and time, one high stick changed the course.

Mason Lohrei was assessed a four-minute high-sticking penalty at the 14:37 minute mark which saw the Panthers capitalize twice on and negated all the good the Bruins were starting to do.

“That high stick changed the game,” Jim Montgomery said.

The Bruins started the third period down 3-0.

But the Panthers’ power play struck again, and on a questionable goaltender interference call against Jakub Lauko. This time the tally came from Brandon Montour to quickly make it 4-0 Florida just minutes into the final frame.

It was fitting that on a delayed penalty call against Florida, Lauko scored on a wrist shot to get the Bruins on the board.

Jake DeBrusk would add another goal off a feed from Lohrei with over 11 minutes still left in the third.

The Bruins pressured Sergei Bobrovsky as the team began shooting on net and had a strong power play themselves — even though it didn’t yield a tally.

But an empty-net goal and another power-play goal from Florida ended this one for the Bruins.

Here are the highlights of the game:

First period:

The Panthers opened the scoring at 8:04 of the first period.

After a turnover in the defensive zone, Evan Rodrigues knocked down a high puck over Swayman’s shoulders. The referees looked at it for high-sticking, but ruled it clean. 1-0 Panthers.

Second period:

The Panthers took a two-goal lead at 16:14 of the second period with a power-play goal.

Matthew Tkachuk found Vladimir Tarasenko inside the left-wing circle for a wrist shot top-shelf past Swayman. 2-0 Panthers.

The Panthers struck again on the four-minute power plat at 17:14 of the second period.

Along the goal line, Sam Bennett threw a pass out front to Carter Verhaeghe who got his stick on it enough to tap it in past Swayman. 3-0 Panthers.

Third period:

The Panthers got yet another power-play goal at 3:09 of the third period.

After a questionable goaltender interference call against Jakub Lauko, Montour fired a shot from the point which beat Swayman. 4-0 Panthers.

The Bruins got one back on a delayed penalty call at 5:01 of the third period.

Jake DeBrusk found Lauko inside the left-wing circle where he put a wrist shot past Sergei Bobrovsky’s blocker shoulder. 4-1 game.

The Bruins answered back again at 8:31 of the third period.

Entering the zone, Mason Lohrei fed a pass to DeBrusk inside the left-wing circle where he sent a wrist shot past Bobrovsky’s glove. 4-2 game.

The Panthers cushioned their lead with an empty-net goal from Sam Reinhart at 18:36 of the third period.

The Panthers scored their fourth power-play goal of the night at 19:09 of the third period.

Tkachuk hit Rodrigues with a pass inside the left-wing circle for a one-timer past Swayman. Final score: 6-2 Panthers.

Game notes:

• Blame it on coaching. Blame it on not shooting. Blame it on some poor officiating. Blame it however and wherever you want. The fact of the matter is, Florida was the better team tonight and capitalized on their opportunities when the Bruins faltered on the PK where they’ve been strong all playoffs, weren’t shooting enough early on and couldn’t get the puck out of their defensive zone.
• Soundbite from Montgomery: “We have to get better and I have to give the players a better plan,” Montgomery said. “Florida was significantly better than us.”
• The Bruins really didn’t have a great first or second period overall. couldn’t get an offense going in the first period. They were picked, couldn’t hold on to pucks or really generate any offensive zone time. The Panthers were there to put pressure on the Bruins it felt all over the ice and took away space for them to set anything up.
• The Panthers dominated the first period of play, outshooting the Bruins 13-3 in the period. The Bruins only had one shot through the first 13 minutes of play. While the Bruins had some scoring opportunities, they weren’t able to make connections out front or fumbled with the puck at the blue line to keep plays alive.
• Brandon Carlo postgame said Florida did a good job winning wall battles and secondary puck battles. He said the Bruins need to be better getting out of the defensive zone in Game 4. “I think defensemen need to move pucks a little bit faster on first touch when we can to enable our forwards to make that next chip,” he said.
• It’s hard to assess Bobrovsky in this series outside of Game 1 because the Bruins have only had a combined 32 shots on net between Games 2 and Games 3 when they had 29 in Game 1. The Bruins ended tonight with 17 shots, just two more than they had in Game 2. They scored on two of their nine shots in the third period. The B’s definitely look like they have more space to set up plays against Florida who aren’t crowding the front like the Maple Leafs. The Bruins showed a glimpse of hope in the third in regard to shooting and hopefully they will carry that positive over in Game 4.
• Whether it was a bad call or not, the Panthers were able to strike twice on that Lauko call, bringing their series power play goals, after two more during the night. The Bruins power play has been consistent and shutdown for most of the postseason but struggled in Game 3.
• In regard to the penalty kill, Carlo felt they needed to be better at the net front “There were some problems there,” Carlo said. “They created some zone time when we didn’t get our clears. we want to get the puck down 200 feet when we can.”
• Montgomery thought Swayman and David Pastrnak were the Bruins’ best players on the ice.
• Montgomery will likely be making some adjustments to his lineup for Game 4. He began tweaking defensive pairings during the game, or maybe it will be Linus Ullmark in goal.
• While Swayman made some outstanding stops, I wonder now more than at any other point in this series and the previous one if Game 4 is the time to start Ullmark. If you don’t, you have to ride Swayman out.
• Brad Marchand did not return to play for the third period. He took a weird hit higher up from Bennett in the neutral zone which could have been the cause. He was a little slower getting up from it, but did play after it. Montgomery did not have an update postgame on Marchand other than it was upper-body and they will know more tomorrow.
• The Bruins and Panthers will face off in Game 4 on Sunday, May 12, at 6:30 p.m. at the TD Garden.