BOSTON – Here are five thoughts from the second period with the Bruins trailing the Florida Panthers by a 2-1 score after the first 40 minutes of play at TD Garden.
1) Another dud of a second period from the Bruins, who had little jump, turned pucks over and gave up a couple of goals to trail headed into the final 20 minutes of the game. The Panthers really raised the intensity level in the second period, and the Bruins didn’t seem to have that second gear tonight.
2) Awful, terrible, no good night for Matt Bartkowski, who fanned on a puck at the blue line on an offensive zone face off win, and turned it into a Brad Boyes breakaway goal to give the Panthers a 2-1 lead. He had a few bad turnovers in the first period that Tuukka Rask was able to erase, but he couldn’t keep it up in the second on a play where Bartkowski simply choked as the last line of B’s defense. There is something both sad and poetic about the Bruins being forced to either make or miss the playoffs while trotting Bartkowski out every night, and absorbing his mistakes during one of the down periods in his very inconsistent play. He is most definitely a factor in the ultimate fate of this team.
3) Shawn Thornton running around on a few of his shifts, and he drilled Dennis Seidenberg in front of the Boston bench during one particularly boisterous shift. Adam McQuaid had words with No. 22 as he skated off the ice, so that’s something to keep an eye on in the final 20 minutes if it keeps up.
4) One shot on net for the B’s fourth line while not having a goal for the entire month of March from any of those three players. They need to start kicking in a little offense every now and then for the B’s.
5) Brandon Pirri, all he does is score goals. He finished off a one-timer with Jimmy Hayes in front of the net, and has 21 goals and 2 assists on the season. You can see why he’s got the 20 plus goals given the way he shoots the puck, but he must really hate to pass it up.