Boston Shocked, Down, 3-0, to Panthers

OK, Boston has been in the playoffs 29 seasons in a row and no franchise in any sport has done better.

But what the Bruins have done lately when they got there has Bostonians upset, and seldom more than on Wednesday night when Jody Hull scored twice for the Florida Panthers and the third-year team won, 4-2.

There were more than 2,500 empty seats in Boston’s FleetCenter to watch the Bruins fall to an 0-3 record and one game from elimination in the best-of-seven series.

“We were well aware that Florida was a formidable opponent coming in, but it’s shocking to be down three games,” Boston Coach Steve Kasper said.

Maybe not. The Bruins are 1-11 and have been outscored, 46-21, in their last 12 playoff games. They were eliminated in the first round in two of the last three seasons.

They have out-shot Florida in all three games, but have never led in the series, a serious problem against a strong defensive team like Florida, which gave up the sixth-fewest goals in the NHL.

“Playing with the lead is better than playing from behind,” Panther Coach Doug MacLean said, then realized how silly that sounded.

“I’m really saying some smart things tonight,” he said.

His players did plenty of smart things. They gave up few second shots after goalie John Vanbiesbrouck made a save, checked hard in an attempt to wear down the Bruins and capitalized on scoring chances.

“They’re taking it to us on every play. They’re getting every break,” Boston’s Rick Tocchet said. “We get a bunch of shots on Vanbiesbrouck, then something happens that always kills us.”

The Bruins fell behind when Hull scored 30 seconds into the game, and Scott Mellanby and Mike Hough gave Florida a 3-0 lead after one period against goalie Bill Ranford, who had missed the second game because of a sore right ankle.

“Dominating? I don’t think so,” said Tom Fitzgerald, who assisted on Hull’s first goal. “We gave up 40 shots three games in a row. You’ve got to look at what you’re doing wrong.”

Vanbiesbrouck entered his first playoff series in four years with a 13-20 postseason record, but he was outstanding, turning aside 40 of 41 shots before Tocchet scored a meaningless power-play goal with 58 seconds left.

Hull gave Florida a 4-0 lead at 15:16 of the second period, but Shawn McEachern ended Vanbiesbrouck’s shutout bid at 18:40.