Bruins Looking To Set Tone Physically, Emotionally In Game 3

The Bruins were served a reality check Wednesday, as it became clear the talent disparity between them and the Panthers wasn’t as large as a 5-1 verdict in the series opener suggested.

Florida is an elite hockey team and Boston is far from perfect. It’s not going to be easy grabbing four wins. This will be quite the series.

The Panthers deserve credit for their blowout victory in Game 2, but there are a number of things that stemmed from the win that have the Bruins feeling… well, let Pat Maroon explain it.

“I think we should be pissed off for sure,” Maroon said Friday, per Jim McBride of The Boston Globe. “I think especially about our game, too, though. I think most importantly, all the other stuff — whatever, you know, the scrums, them yelling in our face after they score — it’s over. It’s done with. We’ve got to be mad in here. Play with intensity, play the way we’re supposed to be playing.”

Brandon Montour stirred the pot by yelling in Brad Marchand’s face after scoring a goal. Matthew Tkachuk played up to his role as a villain by punching David Pastrnak (twice) while he was down on the ice. Maroon and Nick Cousins kickstarted a stretch that saw 148 penalty minutes dished out.

The B’s kinda lost their cool, and though it came in a game they were well out of, they can’t allow it to happen again.

“I think you’ve just got to stay even-keeled,” Maroon said. “Never too high. Never too low, right? You can’t be taking penalties like, myself, in between whistles… You’ve just got to be smart between the whistles, play hard, and if anything’s out there, then maybe something will happen.”

If the Bruins are going to follow the lead of anyone, it should probably be the three-time Stanley Cup winner.