In several different ways, the Boston Bruins did not look like their usual selves Wednesday night at TD Garden.
The Presidents’ Trophy winners were outplayed across the board in Game 2 of their first-round Stanley Cup playoffs series with the Panthers. After a so-so showing — albeit in a winning effort — in Game 1, the B’s regressed Wednesday and now will head to Florida with the best-of-seven set deadlocked at one game apiece.
Jim Montgomery had his pick of the litter when tasked to pinpoint what went wrong for Boston in Game 2. But after his team’s 6-3 loss, the Bruins head coach honed in on one, specific facet of the game.
“We were slow, for us,” Montgomery told reporters, per The Boston Globe. “A lot of that is Florida. They were right on top of us. They’re checking really well — but we were slow. To me, that didn’t look like Bruins hockey, offensively.”
A slower pace wasn’t the only way the Bruins strayed from their norm Wednesday. Boston also was crippled by turnovers and was thoroughly outmatched in the third period, a portion of the game where the B’s have thrived all season long.
Montgomery and company now will go back to the drawing board and try to make the proper adjustments ahead of Game 3. The Bruins and the Panthers will meet next Friday, with puck drop from FLA Live Arena scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET. NESN’s full coverage begins at 6:30 p.m. ET.
