Playing in one of the most historic arenas in the American Hockey League was not good luck for the Boston Bruins on Thursday night.
The Bruins lost their second preseason game to the Florida Panthers 3-2 at the Blue Cross Arena (formerly the War Memorial) in Rochester, NY. Rochester is home to the Panthers AHL affiliate.
Bruins goaltender Nolan Schaefer got off to a relatively rocky start, letting in two goals in the first period. Both were scored by Panthers left winger David Booth, the first at 8:47 of the first period and the second near the 17 minute mark. Sandwiched between Booth's goals was Bruins' defenseman Steve Kampfer's first NHL preseason goal, with the helper from a much-improved Michael Ryder.
Just over a minute out of the first intermission, the Bruins would be haunted by recently traded former teammate Dennis Wideman. Wideman's first shot of the game scored a power-play goal to put the Panthers up 3-1.
Providence Bruin regular Jeff LoVecchio scored in the third to make the score 3-2, but the Bruins were unable to get anything else past Panthers goalie Tyler Plante. Plante played the second half of the game in his home rink (he's spent significant time in net for Rochester), and made a number of flashy saves to keep the Bruins at bay. Plante took the reigns from Tomas Vokoun, who made 13 saves in the early half of the game for the Panthers.
Schaefer made 15 saves on the evening, playing the entire game in net for the Bruins. Ryder led the team with four shots on the evening, and rookies Joe Colborne and Jared Knight each had two shots in their first NHL preseason action.
The Panthers and Bruins will make the trip up to Boston to play a second preseason game against each other Saturday evening at the TD Garden.
For more Bruins-Panthers game analysis and further Bruins coverage, be sure to check out Stanley Cup of Chowder.