BOSTON — The Bruins allowed just one power-play goal to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Boston entered Game 3 against the Florida Panthers near perfect with 28-of-30 penalties killed. The Bruins could not continue that trend Friday night, giving up four power-play goals in a 6-2 loss […]
BOSTON — The Bruins allowed just one power-play goal to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Boston entered Game 3 against the Florida Panthers near perfect with 28-of-30 penalties killed. The Bruins could not continue that trend Friday night, giving up four power-play goals in a 6-2 loss at TD Garden.
“They did a good job creating more zone time,” Brandon Carlo told reporters after the loss. “We didn’t get our clears at times when we needed to and just that net front battle. We got to win that area of the ice.
“They did a good job funneling a lot of pucks. They’re getting a lot of traffic. We need to get under sticks, move bodies out of that zone and just allow (Jeremy Swayman) to see the puck a little more. We’re very confident in him making those saves.”
On six power-play opportunities, the Panthers managed to get 11 shots on Swayman, and he made seven stops.
“You got to tip your cap to their power play,” Swayman said. “They have a lot of talented players, and they get pucks to the net. We can go to the drawing board and look at what we can do better.
“I haven’t watched the film, obviously, but on the ice, we know that they like to funnel pucks and use the bumper, and we can do a better job of everything. Making sure that I’m seeing pucks and blocking shots. We’re looking forward to that and making sure our penalty kill is back and locked up like it usually is.”
Aside from the penalty kill faltering, the Bruins only got 17 shots on Sergei Bobrovsky while the Panthers peppered Swayman with 32.
“It’s a mix of coming out of our D-zone. That area needs to be more clean,” Carlo said. “Then we got to play behind them, and from there, we’ll start to create more puck possession in their zone, and those looks will open up.”
Carlo added: “They did a good job getting in front of shots tonight. I will give them that, but overall, I think if we’re cleaner through our zone and the neutral zone, then we’ll be able to have a little bit more offensive time.”
Here are more notes from Friday’s Bruins-Panthers Game 3:
— Bruins captain Brad Marchand did not return for the third period after taking an awkward hit into the boards from Sam Bennett in the opening frame.
Montgomery did not have an update on Marchand other than it was an upper-body injury and he would have more information Saturday. Montgomery acknowledged the other Bruins’ leaders for stepping up in Marchand’s absence.
— With Boston’s poor execution in the game, Montgomery shouldered the blame for not having a good enough game plan for his team.
“I don’t think we’re on top of our game,” Montgomery said. “Our execution, to be honest, the last two games, the last two periods of (Game 2) and the first two periods of (Game 3) is just not been good enough. That’s why I say that’s my fault. I gotta be better.”
— Jakub Lauko returned to the lineup after being a healthy scratch for the past seven games. He tallied his first career playoff goal and registered two shots and one hit in 10:17 minutes of ice time. The 24-year-old was also whistled for a controversial goaltender interference penalty in the third period.
— The Bruins will look to even the series when they host the Panthers for Game 4 on Sunday. Puck drop from TD Garden is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on TBS with NESN carrying an hour of pre- and postgame coverage.
