Over the course of a regular season that was historic on multiple fronts, the Bruins made winning look pretty darn easy.
However, it took only two games into Boston’s 2023 playoff run for the Black and Gold and their fans to realize the club won’t be able to jaunt to the Stanley Cup.
The Bruins received a wake-up call Wednesday night at TD Garden. After Boston drew first blood in its first-round series with Florida, the Panthers punched back and landed a haymaker with a 6-3 win in enemy territory. From puck possession to pace and everything in between, Paul Maurice’s group unquestionably was the better team Wednesday night and now has some momentum as it travels back home.
There wasn’t much for the Bruins to get excited about in Game 2, but the ugly loss did provide a teaching moment for the Eastern Conference’s top seed.
“I think the No. 1 lesson you learn is how hard it is to win in the playoffs,” head coach Jim Montgomery told reporters, per The Boston Globe. “Florida did a good job and had a really good game plan. We’ve got to look at the tape and get better. I thought our work effort was there, but our execution wasn’t great.”
Looking at the tape also could lead to lineup changes for the Bruins, who might deploy a new look in Game 3. Time will tell if the return of Patrice Bergeron — who missed the series’ first two games — is one of those tweaks.
Boston and Florida will square off Friday night at FLA Live Arena. NESN’s full coverage of Game 3 begins at 6:30 p.m. ET.
