In Boston, on Saturday, the Bruins lost to the visiting Florida Panthers, 4-1.
The loss prevented the Bruins from nailing down the second spot in the Atlantic Division.
Evgenii Dadonov scored twice for the Panthers – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
The loss dropped Boston to The Bruins 47-22-9.
Evgenii Dadonov struck twice for the Panthers; Florida is playing the schedule out, having already been eliminated form the playoff race.
“We didn’t have a lot of puck luck, clearly, around their net. It seemed like a few were destined to go in that didn’t,” Bruins had coach Bruce Cassidy said. “You know they got a fortunate bounce on the first one. But at the end of the day I don’t think we did enough to overcome our poor puck luck to win the game, by getting inside and making sure that we finished some plays around the net. So that was a little disappointing that we weren’t able to build off what Noel [Acciari’s] line did to get us kind of back in the game.”
Roberto Luongo made 30 saves to get the win.
“Every win feels nice,” Luongo said. “I mean unfortunately it doesn’t mean that much this time of year, but we’re all professionals in here and we play to win hockey and hockey games and it doesn’t matter what’s at stake, you always want to be on the winning side.”
Noel Acciari was the lone striker for Boston.
“I think the key to the game though is [Luongo], what he did in the first period,” Panthers head coach Bob Boughner said. “I mean we could’ve been down 2-0 and that’s the difference. We got some big saves at the right time and gave us a chance to get settled in this game. You get down 2-0, 3-0 against Boston, chances are game over. So Louie was the best player on the ice.”
Riley Sheahan and Troy Brouwer also scored for the Panthers.
“These guys are fighting to the end. And it’s no surprise. I think there is some character in that room, there’s a lot of character in that room and it’s nice to see them coming together,” Boughner said.
[WATCH: All Panthers vs. Bruins highlights]
Tuukka Rask made 19 saves in the loss.
“It’s always frustrating to lose,” Rask said. “I mean we just go game by game and whatever happens happens. I think just all year we try to worry about where our game is and how we want to play. I think we played pretty tight defensively again today and the puck wasn’t bouncing our way down the other end. And then it’s a 4-1 loss, but hopefully we’ll make this a good road trip and have clarity of whether we get the home ice or not and finish the season and start the playoffs.”
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