McDonald: There are legit reasons (not excuses) why the Panthers shutout the Bruins

SUNRISE, Fla. – Don't panic. Things are not starting to unravel for the Boston Bruins.

Just because they were held scoreless for only the second time this season during a 3-0 loss to the Florida Panthers on Thursday night at BB&T Center, it's not cause for concern. After all, the Bruins did generate 46 shots on Panthers goalie James Reimer, who finished with his third shutout of the season.

The Bruins won't make excuses and they shouldn't, especially at this point of the season. But it's hard to look past the fact that they're without Patrice Bergeron (broken foot), Zdeno Chara (upper body), Charlie McAvoy (knee) and Jake DeBrusk (upper body). Plus, it didn't help that David Backes was ejected from Thursday's game due to a match penalty.

Even though the Bruins have depth, when the lineup is missing key components, it's a challenge to deliver a solid performance, especially against a surging Panthers team that has won 16 of their last 21 games with a 16-4-1 record in that span and is vying for a playoff spot. Florida was simply better in this game. The Bruins entered Thursday’s game outscoring their opponents 33-23 in the previous seven games and even though Boston registered 46 shots, Reimer was on his game.

"Seemed like we had a lot of chances and seemed like a few trickled behind him but we didn’t get any bounces tonight,” said Rick Nash. “It was one of those nights and the only way you’re going to score on goalies is if you outwork them and we’ve got to make sure we do that next game.”



The Bruins were lacking second and third efforts, which is something they've done well with for the majority of the season. Teams can't be perfect every game and this could be one of the typical stretches when Boston isn't at its best due to all the injuries and lineup changes.

“Listen, it’s up to someone else to come through,” said Bruce Cassidy. “You get these nights when offensively it’s not happening and that’s when you hope you keep it out of your net. We’ve scored a lot of goals lately to win hockey games, so it’s probably going to come around the other way pretty soon. We’re going to need a night when we’re keeping it out of our net and we need the extra save. It’s probably getting to that point — you’re not going to score six, and eight and seven on a regular basis, especially now when you take some people out of lineup. Hopefully, we turn it around quick and start getting the goals against down to a manageable number.”

As far as the most recent injuries, the Bruins won't know the extent of Chara's until the team returns to Boston on Sunday. The captain, along with DeBrusk, will both be out of the lineup again on Saturday against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena.

When certain players aren't playing, a team like the Bruins can find a way to win, which is something they've accomplished the entire season. With Chara, however, his loss on the blue line is a gamechanger, especially against a heavy team like the Panthers. It won't be any different against the Lightning too.

"It's a little different because it does take away that hard matchup for us," explained Torey Krug, who finished with a season-high 26:35 of ice time and eight shots. "Obviously, we always want Zdeno against the other team's top line, especially with bigger bodies and there's a big test tonight with that. It changes matchups a little bit, but he's a big presence. He's a guy that no one wants to go into a corner with and when he speaks in the locker room everybody listens up, so there's a big void to be filled physically and in the room with his voice. It's definitely tough."

The Bruins have 13 games remaining in the regular season and three of them are against the Panthers. Those matchups will only intensify as both teams prepare for a possible postseason berth.

“We’ve got three more games against them and they’re a tough team. We’re going to have to come out and play honest every night because they play the game the right way and they play it hard and so we’ve got to make sure we do the same thing every time," Reimer said "It’s good to get rewarded for playing a good, hard, solid fought game and we’ll have to have some more of that.”

The Bruins simply need to limit the damage while their roster gets healthy down the stretch and try to avoid these types of games.