Bruins right wing Shawn Thornton and Florida Panthers right wing Krystofer Barch battled it out early in the first period in a fight that would serve as a good indicator for how the rest of the game would unfold: scrappy opponents facing off in a battle of endurance.

However, the Bruins would not be able to penetrate Florida's stingy defense in a 2-0 loss last Thursday.

The Panthers, now an overall 16-8-4 on the year, have emerged as a surprising playoff threat in the Eastern Conference. With a 5-3 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday, the Bruins rest at 18-9-1 on the season.

Throughout the first and second periods, the two teams fought evenly for possession.

While Boston held a slight edge in shots on goal in the first two periods, neither team managed to score.

The Bruins offense did have several close post opportunities in the early stages of the game, but failed to capitalize. Bruins coach Claude Julien was disappointed at the team's effort to convert on scoring chances.

"We had about 40 shots on net, but we forced a lot of plays," Julien said.

"There were about four or five posts, and you can say what you want about those, but you've got to find ways to bury those goals, and I think we've got to do a better job of that."

Panthers goalkeeper José Théodore led a team that was well-prepared for the Bruins attack.

In the beginning of the third period, the Bruins dominated offensively, but again failed to put any points on the board against the seemingly impenetrable Panthers goaltender.

Théodore, in his second shutout of the season and 600th National Hockey League game, stayed strong through a barrage of shots on goal, eliciting sighs of disappointment from the sold-out stands of TD Garden. In their 101st straight sold-out home game, the Bruins kept fans anxious and hopeful for a score.

On the defensive end, Bruins goalkeeper Tim Thomas and defenseman Dennis Seidenberg remained solid throughout the game, only allowing a decisive score with only 2 minutes, 32 seconds left in the game.

However, Seidenberg acknowledged that the team should have been more effective on both sides of the rink.

"We just didn't play well enough on both blue lines," he said. "We just turned the puck over too many times and just made the little mistakes that cost the game at the end."

Panthers right wing Tomás Kopecký seized the scoring opportunity that the Panthers had been waiting for all night on a rebounded shot from defenseman Dmitry Kulikov. Center Shawn Matthias picked up the assist.

"We knew [Thomas] was going to be playing hard; we knew [it was] going to be a tight game," said Kopecký. "After the second period we just said, we need to stay patient.'"

In a game where the Bruins were 0-4 on the power play, Julien pulled Thomas with one minute remaining.

The Panthers quickly fired off their second goal of the night on an empty net back-hand goal from forward Kris Versteeg with 41.9 seconds left.

Julien noted the advantages the Bruins held in possession but that their scoring opportunities were not enough to overcome their ineffectiveness on offense or ability to counter the patience of the Panthers offense.

"Nothing was really clean tonight. I think that's what really made our game hard," he said. "My feeling after each period was that as long as we didn't score, they were going to hang in there and just wait for the opportunity. And they did."

Left wing Milan Lucic agreed with Julien that the team's inability to convert on scoring chances cost them the game.

"We did a good job of getting shots and scoring chances, but that's all they are if you don't get results."

The Bruins next play the Los Angeles Kings tonight at home at 7 p.m.