BOSTON — The Bruins rallied from a two-goal deficit to tie the game in the third period, but a breakaway goal from Jordan Martinook lifted the Carolina Hurricanes over the Bruins at TD Garden on Wednesday night.
Brad Marchand potted a pair of goals in the final frame, and the Bruins had all the momentum after a sloppy second period.
“The first period was a really fast game. The second period, they out-competed us,” Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery said after the game. “Third period, I thought we had great desperation and second, third effort, but the game management at the end of the game was not good. That’s what cost us the game.”
David Pastrnak took a slap shot from the top of the circle that Hurricanes goaltender Spencer Martin turned away with his right pad. Without a Bruins player in front of the net, Carolina defender Brent Burns collected the loose puck and banked it off the boards to a streaking Sebastian Aho. Boston didn’t have a defenseman back so Aho got the puck to Teuvo Teravainen, who hit Martinook skating in unopposed against Linus Ullmark for the go-ahead goal.
Montgomery explained why the Hurricanes were able to capitalize on the breakaway.
“The defensemen should not be pinching in,” Montgomery said. “It’s 2-2. There was a shot on net; we have to make sure we keep people in front of us. Then they ended up with, it looked like a 2-on-1 that became a breakaway.”
The comeback falling short, was a lost opportunity for the Bruins and frustrating for Montgomery.
“It’s the game management that bothers me at the end,” Montgomery explained. “You got to know that you’ve done a great job. We’ve tied it up 2-2. We don’t need to force anything.
“Points are valuable. And it’s a good lesson for us moving into the playoffs. The momentum is on our side. It’s 2-2, the crowd’s into it. The Garden is buzzing but we can’t lose our positioning and give up a breakaway.”
Montgomery said the takeaway from the lack of game management is on him.
“I’m not teaching well enough. That’s what I learned tonight.”
The Bruins captain didn’t completely agree with his coach after the game.
“I think the great thing about our team is just everybody wants to take accountability,” Marchand told reporters. “That’s just him trying to take accountability for the game and the outcome. But, it’s a team-wide thing. It’s not one individual player. Not one individual mistake to cost us the game. There’s a lot of different breakdowns on every goal.”
Marchand added: “It’s just us maturing as a team, understanding the situation that we’re in every single shift, and understanding the importance of making simple plays or simple reads. We’re all in it together.”
Here are more notes from Wednesday’s Bruins-Hurricanes game:
— The Bruins weren’t able to capitalize on the four man-advantages they had in the game, however, the Hurricanes scored two power-play goals on three opportunities.
“They move the puck well,” Montgomery said of Carolina’s power play. “They shoot pucks. They’re really good in the (offensive zone). I thought their penalty kill was better than our power play tonight.”
— With an assist on Marchand’s second goal, Charlie Coyle extended his point streak to six games. He has three goals and six helpers in that span.
— Linus Ullmark made 30 saves in the loss, but Montgomery didn’t blame the goaltender.
“Good goaltending,” Montgomery said. “I mean, they got two power-play goals, and they had a breakaway. I thought Ullmark did his job.”
— The Bruins won’t have much to rest as they head north of the border to take on the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night. Puck drop from Canadian Tire Centre is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET, and you can catch all the action on NESN after an hour of pregame coverage.