Bruins lose to Panthers, finish second in Atlantic

BOSTON --The Boston Bruins failed to clinch first place in the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference, losing 4-2 to the Florida Panthers at TD Garden on Sunday.
The Bruins finished second in the division and conference, one point behind the Tampa Bay Lightning, and will play the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Eastern Conference First Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

David Backes and David Pastrnak scored, and Tuukka Rask made 22 saves for the Bruins (50-20-12), who are 1-3-1 in their past five games.
"We had a good third, obviously. But obviously, not the outcome we would've liked," Bruins forward Brad Marchand said. "But the game is over, and we'll move on to the playoffs. We're in a good spot still. We're in the postseason, so that's what you play for all year, a chance to be here, and look forward to the first game."
WATCH: [All Panthers vs. Bruins highlights\]
Henrik Borgstrom, Frank Vatrano, Maxim Mamin and Evgenii Dadonov scored for the Panthers (44-30-8), who finished the season with five wins in seven days and were eliminated from playoff contention Saturday when the Philadelphia Flyers won 5-0 against the New York Rangers.
James Reimer made 33 saves for Florida before leaving with an injury at 11:53 of the third period. Roberto Luongo replaced him and made eight saves.
"It just feels like character," Panthers forward Jared McCann said. "We didn't want to mail it in. We stuck with it."

Borgstrom scored his first NHL goal with a wrist shot from the high slot at 1:22 of the first period to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead. Vatrano stripped the puck from Bruins defenseman Matt Grzelcyk at the blue line to set up Borgstrom's goal.
Backes tied it 1-1 with a backhand from in front off a rebound from Torey Krug's initial shot at 8:18.
Vatrano scored on a one-timer from the high slot that beat Rask glove side at 16:46 to give the Panthers a 2-1 lead.
Mamin extended the lead to 3-1 at 13:33 of the second period, scoring on a one-timer from the right circle off a cross-ice pass from Denis Malgin.

"I just felt that coming down the stretch here, you could start to see us mentally get tired," Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said. "I think we're losing some of our passion, and that showed in the first period, that's what we were missing. And then the execution crept in and ... when we wanted to get the game back we did it more as individuals instead of a team. And then in the third, we started playing together, but then it's too late, we're chasing the game."
Pastrnak scored a power-play goal at 9:54 of the third period with a wrist shot from low in the left circle to make it 3-2. Dadonov scored on a backhand at 18:11 to give Florida a 4-2 lead.
"Yeah, we are extremely proud of this group, the effort they put forward, especially in the second half of the season," Panthers coach Bob Boughner said. "The message after the game from me to them was remember how bittersweet this feeling is. ... We will go home, relax, work out hard, and get back here and try to pick up where we left off tonight."

Goal of the game

Vatrano's goal at 16:46 of the first period.

Save of the game

Luongo's save on Pastrnak at 15:35 of the third period.

Highlight of the game

Borgstrom's goal at 1:22 of the first period.

They said it

"I think that the young guys have been through a battle here in the last couple months, and even the veteran guys, and essentially, we have been playing playoff hockey for two months and I think that is going to help us. I think that my exit meetings are going to be pretty positive and constructive."-- Panthers coach Bob Boughner
"I believe we'll be the 50-win team that we saw all year. We're not going to allow one game to define us. We understand that meaning, we let one get away, an opportunity lost to have home-ice advantage. And we'll see if that haunts us down the road, it's too early to tell that yet." -- Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy

Need to know

Panthers forward Jamie McGinn's assist on Vatrano's goal was the 100th of his NHL career. ... Vatrano had four points (two goals, two assists) during a three-game point streak. ... Pastrnak's 35th goal of the season set a new NHL career high.

What's next

Panthers: Season over
Bruins: Host the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference First Round on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, TVAS, NHL.TV)