Haggerty: 15 thoughts from Bruins-Panthers

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Here are five thoughts from the first period with the Bruins and Florida Panthers locked in a scoreless tie after the first 20 minutes at TD Garden.

1)Good period from Jose Theodore making 12 stops to keep the Bruins off the board, and he made good stops on Tyler Seguin and Brad Marchand on a shot-and-rebound flurry. But Theodore was also the beneficiary of three posts hit by Patrice Bergeron, Dennis Seidenberg and Nathan Horton.

2)Daniel Paille took a big hit from Krys Barch in the Florida tough guys first shift with the Panthers after coming over from the Dallas Stars, and never returned to the ice after looking wobbly upon getting up. Shawn Thornton followed up with a fight standing up for Paille after hed been run into the boards, but Barch had to have given Florida what they were looking for with that first shift. (Update: Paille will not return tonight)

3)Peter Chiarelli addressed the Dougie Hamilton contract prior to the game and indicated that he could threaten for a spot in Boston next seasonan interesting development considering Bostons defensemen situation.

4)Nathan Horton with a game-high three shots on net and two hits in a game against the Florida Panthers team that traded him to Boston two summers ago. Looks like Horton came fully motivated against his old hockey club.

5) Good job by the Panthers clogging up the lanes and area directly in front of the Florida net. If it looks familiar it should. Its the defense crafted by former Bs assistant coach Craig Ramsay that hes now brought to Florida with him this season. Ramsay and head coach Kevin Dineen are a big reason for the Florida turnaround.

Here are five thoughts from the second period with the Bruins and Florida Panthers locked in a scoreless tie after the first 40 minutes at TD Garden.

1)Johnny Boychuk with another big hit on Mike Santorelli at mid-ice and then drops the gloves with Jack Skille to defend his perfectly clean, thunderous hit. Love watching Boychuk fight in those situations. You can tell it takes getting hit with a punch or two before he really gets angry and starts throwingbut he pounded Skille once he got going.

2)A team-high five shots on net for Rich Peverley in 12:17 of ice time, and its appeared the third line has enjoyed some of the best shifts in the scoreless contest.

3)An excellent game for Kris Versteeg, who has been robbed several times by Tim Thomas down close to the net. Not surprising that Versteeg is blossoming in Florida as that always seemed like a good setting for a player with his makeup. Toronto was never going to be a good fit.

4)Two shots on net in 11:21 of ice time for Tyler Seguin tonight. A couple of decent shots, but I havent seen the burst and compete level that he was displaying in the first two months of the season.

5)Four posts hit tonight by the Bruins. It looks like these games with the Florida Panthers could be exercises in defensive execution this season, and that means stretches of boredom for the fans and media.

Here are five thoughts from the third period with the Bruins falling to the Florida Panthers by a 2-0 score after 60 minutes at TD Garden.

1)One goal in the last 120 minutes of game action for the Bruins. Give credit to Ondrej Pavelec and Jose Theodore, but it looks like the free-flowing goals of November have stopped for the time being.

2)Jose Theodore stone-walling the Bruins? Where have we seen this before? Hmmm. A great effort with 38 stops for the Florida netminder.

3)Joe Corvo on ice for each of the last three even-strength goals surrendered by the Bruins. Looks like hes leaking some oil in the defensive end.

4)Zdeno Chara had a strange play where he was bunched with Adam McQuaid in by the right blue line, and his vacancy allowed a pick to slide out of the offensive zone. But Chara redeemed himself with a shift where he ripped three shots on net and set Tyler Seguin up for a golden scoring chance. Seguin missed the net with his quick wrist shot, however.

5) Yeoman work by Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron taking turns double-shifting in the absence of Daniel Paille early in the first period.

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