Linus Ullmark keeps Florida Panthers at bay. Takeaways from loss to Boston Bruins

The Florida Panthers had their chances early against the Boston Bruins on Wednesday.

But as much as they tried, almost nothing they put on net got past Boston goaltender Linus Ullmark.

That proved to be the difference in their 3-1 loss to the Bruins in front of a sold-out crowd at Amerant Bank Arena.

Florida falls to 12-6-1 and saw its streak of six consecutive wins on home ice snapped. The Bruins improves to 14-1-3 and has won both of its games so far this season against the Panthers, the other being a 3-2 overtime win in Boston on Oct. 30.

Ullmark stopped 27 of 28 shots that came his way — including seven of eight high-danger chances — and only faced 13 shots in the final two periods after Boston slowed down Florida’s offensive attack.

“He’s a big man and he’s quick,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “Wish we spent a little more time around the net front and there’s some things that I think we did well in past playing against him that we weren’t great at tonight. And then he made a bunch of saves. That’ll happen to you.”

Added defenseman Aaron Ekblad: “A lot of outside shots, which is their kind of brand. Something we couldn’t get through. It’s not something to hang our heads about. I thought we had a pretty decent start to the game. Obviously, you’ve got to open up a little bit to try and make some offense in the third, but just come back and get ready for [the next game].”

Boston took the lead for good with two goals in a span of 4:05 in the second period.

John Beecher made it 2-1 with 8:46 left in the period when he scored on essentially an open net following a failed breakaway attempt. His shot bounced off Panthers defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who dove in front of the net to try to compensate for goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky being out of position.

Jake DeBrusk gave Boston an insurance goal with 5:41 left in the frame when jammed home his own rebound past Bobrovsky.

Charlie Coyle opened scoring with 1:25 left in the first period on a breakaway with the game at 4-on-4.

Anton Lundell scored Florida’s only goal, tapping in a rebound off a Nick Cousins shot from the point 10:33 into the second period before Boston took the lead for good with its two second-period tallies.

Bobrovsky stopped 22 of 25 shots he faced.

Here are three takeaways from the game.

Panthers split so far against 2023 Stanley Cup Playoff teams

Ten of Florida’s first 19 games have been against teams that played in the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season.

Florida is 5-4-1 in those games.

In addition to dropping the two games against Boston — one in overtime, one in regulation — Florida has losses to the Minnesota Wild, Winnipeg Jets and Los Angeles Kings. The five wins are against the New Jersey Devils, Toronto Maple Leafs, Seattle Kraken, Carolina Hurricanes and Edmonton Oilers.

“That’s where it’s all built, right?” Maurice said. “It’s all built in the playoffs. There’s a little bit more edge to those games and that’s why they’re more fun to play. They’re more exciting and you get better hockey. You hope you make the playoffs a whole bunch of years in a row and develop 15 rivalries. That’s the idea. Teams get up for [the games]. They’re more fun. Coming to the rink is more fun with somebody you don’t like.”

Gadjovich drops the gloves ... again

While the game already had its share of intensity and physicality, newcomer Jonah Gadjovich once again found a way to try to spark the team. The fourth-line forward dropped the gloves for a second consecutive game, this time fighting with Boston defenseman Derek Forbort early in the second period.

He also tussled with the Edmonton Oilers’ Vincent Desharnais on Monday.

“He hasn’t shown the fear of that in his career. That hasn’t deterred him,” Maurice said Monday. “I’ve seen all the video that’s there on him and I know he’s willing to do that, but what I like about him is his game around that. Sometimes, you gotta hide those guys. His game is good. He’s smart with the puck. He can shoot the puck for sure, but, I mean, I like that option in the lineup.”

Overall, there were 10 penalties called on Wednesday, seven of which came in the first period.

One more at home, then off to Canada

The Panthers cap their three-game homestand with an 8 p.m. game against the Winnipeg Jets on Friday. Florida lost its first game this season to the Jets 6-4 on Oct. 4 in Winnipeg.

After that, the Panthers will head to Canada for three games next week. That trip starts Monday against the Ottawa Senators and continues Tuesday at the Toronto Maple Leafs and Thursday against the Montreal Canadiens. All three games are scheduled for 7 p.m. puck drops.