Possessing the puck was not an issue for the Bruins in Game 2 against the Panthers.

Despite a losing night at the faceoff dot and your eye test telling you a different story for large chunks of action, the Bruins actually won the shot attempt battle at five-on-five play, and finished with seven more shots than the Panthers by the night’s end.

But what they did with the puck, however, was a much different story both to your eyes and on the scoreboard, as giveaways proved costly and downright haunting in a series-tying 6-3 loss to the Panthers at TD Garden.

“The turnovers we had tonight were catastrophic,” Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery offered after the loss. “Like they were right through the middle of the ice [and] not typical of [our] turnovers. We usually have turnovers when other teams are forcing us or we’re trying to make plays. It wasn’t really in areas typically that you’re trying to make plays, so to speak, where we turned it over.”

Let’s just come out with it: This was gross. 

It’s legitimately hard to remember a game where the Bruins were this careless with the puck. Whether it was in their own zone — both through the middle of the ice and just inside their blue line — or with a downright infuriating commitment to no-look passes that would end rushes or possession opportunities, the Bruins repeatedly made life harder on themselves through their own doing.

“I think it was us trying to make plays when plays weren’t there to be made,” Montgomery said. “Instead of just moving it north like we did most of the night, sometimes we just tried to make passes, it happened on the power play as well where we tried to make passes. It happened on the pulled goalie situation, where we gave up the empty net goal.

“It was just execution in certain areas of our game with the puck really cost us tonight.”

The final tally by the night’s end? 15 giveaways. The Bruins hit the 15-giveaway mark just 10 times during the regular season, with their bottoming out on that front coming in a Feb. 11 loss to the Capitals headlined by 21 giveaways.

Two of those 15 giveaways led directly to Florida goals, too, the first of which coming on Brandon Carlo’s giveaway in the middle period, while Charlie McAvoy contributed to the chaos with a giveaway on a third-period goal from Carter Verhaeghe.

“We just gotta do a better job,” McAvoy said. “Plain and simple.”

Here are some other takeaways and thoughts from an ugly loss at TD Garden…

• The Bruins will need more First Period Linus Ullmark in Game 3

  

  Apr 19, 2023; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Bruins goaltender Linus Ullmark (35) makes a save on Florida Panthers center Aleksander Barkov (16) on a shorthanded breakaway during the first period of game two of the first round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs at TD Garden. (Winslow Townson/USA TODAY Sports)

• Listen, it wasn’t all fun in what finished as a 24-of-29 loss for Bruins netminder Linus Ullmark. Far from it, you’d say.

  But for the second game in a row, the first period was headlined by what was a strong showing from the B’s ace in net.

  This opening frame didn’t feature the same volume as Monday’s Game 1 — Ullmark was hit with nine shots tonight compared to 15 in the opening 20 of Game 1 — but Ullmark stood taller than his already-gigantic 6-foot-5 frame.

  Ullmark’s first big save came with Eetu Luostarinen (pretty sure that’s what Greedo said to Han Solo) in front of him and without a Bruin defender in sight. Ullmark hung with Luostrarinen the entire way, staying square and patient the entire way, and gave him absolutely nothing. Ullmark also came through with a just monstrous save on the Panthers’ Aleksander Barkov with the Panthers down a man and looking for what would’ve been an absolutely crushing goal for the B’s to surrender.

  Linus Ullmark denies Aleksander Barkov on a great shorthanded chance. pic.twitter.com/kKqvk6YMQI

  — Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) April 20, 2023

  Perhaps it doesn’t mean much when you look at how this one ended, but you have to imagine that the Bruins are going to need to weather another early storm in the opening 20 when this series shifts down to Florida on Friday.

  In essence, they’ll need more of that first-period magic from Ullmark.

• Bennett returns with a bang for Panthers

  

  BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – APRIL 19: Brandon Carlo #25 of the Boston Bruins defends Sam Bennett #9 of the Florida Panthers during the second period of Game 2 of the First Round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs at TD Garden. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

• It didn’t take long for everybody in the Garden crowd to see that the return of versatile forward Sam Bennett makes a major difference for the Panthers.

  Back in action after missing Game 1 and back in the middle of a second line with Matthew Tkachuk to his right, Bennett opened up the scoring in this contest with a second-period gift courtesy of a Brandon Carlo turnover. It was one of seven shots (a Florida-high) Bennett landed on net by the night’s end in over 16 minutes of time on ice.

  The Bennett-Tkachuk combo would be on the ice for another Panther goal before this one was over, this time in the third period, and scored by Carter Verhaeghe.

  Together for 7:21 of five-on-five time on ice, the Verhaeghe-Bennett-Tkachuk line held an on-ice edge in shot attempts (7-4), shots (5-4), and goals (2-0). The Bennett-Tkachuk duo also had success with Luostarinen to their left, with an on-ice edge in shot attempts (6-3) and shots (6-0) in just 3:48 of five-on-five time together.

  Add it up and that’s a 13-7 shot attempt advantage, 11-4 edge in shots, and 2-0 edge in goals. That’s substantial.

  “Bennett back in the lineup helps them,” Brad Marchand said. “He plays extremely hard and a tough player to play against, adds depth into the lineup as well, so their third line’s even stronger.”

  With Bennett back, the Panthers were able to move Anton Lundell back down to their third line, while Eric Staal moved down to the middle of their fourth line.

• Bruins’ Marchand stays hot with timely shorthanded goal

  

  Apr 19, 2023; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Bruins left wing Brad Marchand (63) celebrates his goal during the second period of Game 2 of the first round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs at TD Garden. (Winslow Townson/USA TODAY Sports)

• The TD Garden crowd was bordering on lifeless at the midway point of the second period.

  The Bruins were losing, chances felt few and far between, and the Bruins were beginning what felt like a mini parade to the penalty box, and with a 2-0 lead for the Panthers looking like a mere inevitability at this pace. But then came a tremendous shorthanded effort from Tomas Nosek and Brad Marchand, and with Marchand beating Alex Lyon for a wicked shorthanded marker to knot things back up at 1-1.

  BRAD MARCHAND SHORTHANDED GOAL AND JUST LIKE THAT ITS 1-1 pic.twitter.com/QWgPxva3Jf

  — Spoked Z (@SpokedZ) April 20, 2023

  This is when you know Marchand is feeling his game. There’s just this knack he has for pumping life into his team, and his ability to ‘drag’ a team into a fight is what makes him such an important presence.

  This has become magnified with captain and linemate Patrice Bergeron currently out of action for the Bruins, and I think you saw some of that in the first period, too. Despite being absolutely mauled by Radko Gudas in the opening period, Marchand did not retaliate or take a stupid penalty. He kept on playing. It paid off when Ryan Lomberg was whistled for cross-checking Marchand just moments later.

  While there’s something to be said for Marchand the absolute nightmare pest, there’s also something to be said for maintaining his cool and scoring big goals with No. 37 on the shelf. Through just two games, Marchand has repeatedly said that the Bruins need to and will be better in this series.

  He also knows his team can’t get too high or too low after each game.

  “It’s one day at a time in playoffs,” Marchand said. “You can’t look at tonight — it doesn’t matter if we lost 10-0 or we lost in overtime. A loss is a loss, a win is a win. We move on. We’ll forget about this one now and start regrouping and see where we can improve. But if we don’t bring our best game, it’s going to be a tough trip, so we’ve got to make sure we’re ready for the next one.”

• Bruins should consider changes on backend for Game 3

  

  Mar 21, 2023; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Bruins defenseman Matt Grzelcyk (48) handles the puck during the second period against the Ottawa Senators at TD Garden. (Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports)

• Speaking after this loss, Jim Montgomery would neither confirm nor deny that lineup changes are coming. But if changes are to be made between now and Friday’s Game 3 at FLA Live Arena, it feels like a change on the backend may do the Bruins some good.

  Especially if Matt Grzelcyk is given the call.

  If there’s one thing the Bruins have struggled with through two games, it’s breaking the puck out of their own zone and through Florida’s forecheck. Grzelcyk is one of Boston’s best skaters on the backend, and is more than adept when it comes to breaking the puck out of his own zone.

  The 5-foot-9 Grzelcyk has also fared relatively well against the Panthers this season, all things considered. In three meetings with the Panthers this year, the Charlestown, Mass. native has put up one assist and a plus-2 rating. And though the Bruins were out-attempted by a single shot (51-50) with No. 48 out there at five-on-five play over that three-game sample, they broke even on shots (25-25) and held a 2-0 goals edge.

  But if Grzelcyk is in, who sits?

  The easiest call would be to follow the in-season rotation and sit one of Connor Clifton or Derek Forbort. Neither player has been particularly stellar out of the gate in this series. (Of course, you could say the same about the four defensemen above them, but all four of them feel about as close as you’ll get to ‘locks’ on this roster, so it’s not really worth diving in on the idea of sitting any of them.)

  When it comes to weighing Clifton vs. Forbort, many will point to Forbort’s penalty-killing game and what it has meant to the Bruins. The Bruins are off to a good start on that front, too, as they’ve gone 5-for-5 on the kill through two games this series, while the Panthers have yet to land a single shot on goal during Forbort’s 3:40 of shorthanded time on ice in this series. But the Bruins at one point also killed off 39 straight penalties with Forbort sidelined late in the regular season, so it’s always more than just one player. You could also make the case that Clifton is better when sitting for a game and then jumping back into the mix. But of the two, Clifton is the better skater, which may be a requirement in this already fast-paced series as it shifts down to Florida.

  But one reason why the Bruins should try this? Lineup versatility.

  Through two games, the Bruins have primarily rolled with a top pairing that features Dmitry Orlov paired with Charlie McAvoy. The Bruins like the idea of having ‘two horses’ on the same pairing. Considering that the Hampus Lindholm-Brandon Carlo pairing has spent the majority of their time matched up against Aleksander Barkov’s line, rolling with Orlov-McAvoy is a solid attempt at a charged-up super pairing.

  But with the benefit of last change gone for the next two games, the Bruins should absolutely aim to have McAvoy, Lindholm, and Orlov on different pairings.

  The best way to achieve that is putting Grzelcyk back in the lineup and to the left of McAvoy. That’s a pairing that the Bruins know works. Grzelcyk’s versatility and familiarity with just about every right-shooting option on the roster also leads to more natural in-game pairing movement should the game call for it.

• This is where you hope the Bruins’ mantra comes to table

  

  Apr 19, 2023; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery and his players sit on the bench during the final moment of Game 2 of the first round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs at TD Garden. (Winslow Townson/USA TODAY Sports)

• There’s a saying in the B’s locker room. You may have heard it mentioned by ’em at some point, but it’s a simple, “We don’t lose two in a row.” That mantra started before Montgomery arrived (I actually think it dates back to Zdeno Chara’s time as team captain), but it’s been especially true under Montgomery.

  In 18 games following a loss this season, the Bruins went an absurd 15-2-1. That’s a win in over 83 percent of games following a defeat. And when losing their previous game by at least three goals, they were 4-0-0.

  Now comes seeing if that mantra holds true in the postseason.

  “Man, there’s ups and downs in every series and it’s just playoff hockey so, take it for what it is and turn the page, that’s it,” Charlie McAvoy said after the loss. “[We] know that we have to be better moving forward.”

  “We’re at our best when we compete at our level for three periods, and we haven’t done it yet,” Marchand said. “We need to be better. It’s a good opportunity to look at some tape and see where we can improve and try and fix that for the next one.”

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