TORONTO — A loss is a loss is a loss. And, make no mistake, the Bruins did lose something tangible on Wednesday to the Tampa Bay Lightning, and in a fashion that should not make them least bit happy.

But somewhere between the start that saw them fall into another multiple-goal and the end where they gave up the winning goal to Tyler Johnson with 1:27 remaining in regulation, the Bruins showed something that they hadn’t in their previous two games.

A pulse.

Yes, for long stretches of the Bruins’ 3-2 loss to the Lightning at Scotiabank Arena, they looked a little more like the team that won the Presidents’ Trophy in the regular season (that top seed is now out the window). They were able to manufacture enough emotion in the empty building to erase a 2-0 deficit and they answered the call physically.

They are still not as sharp as they are when they’re in Grade A form, but they’re getting better. While both their goals were scored off long distance shots there were also some plays being made. They were moving the puck around the offensive zone with some alacrity and, though they didn’t finish any tic-tac-toe plays, they left the impression that they’re on the cusp of something good.

“It was a good effort,” said Patrice Bergeron. “Obviously not the start that you want, but after that I thought we took it to them and we had some pretty good looks and chances. When you tie the game up you want to give yourself a better chance to go into overtime. Not the result that you want, but it definitely felt more like it tonight.”

Bergeron assisted on Charlie McAvoy’s goal that cut the deficit in half late in the second by winning a faceoff back to Torey Krug. His line with Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak did not get on the board after that, but it appeared they were gaining a comfort level.

“We’ve got to keep communicating and keep improving and getting better,” said Bergeron. “Obviously we haven’t had a chance to play as a unit throughout camp and we knew it was going to take a little bit of time to get everything back but it’s up to us to keep talking and keep getting better.”

Another positive sign was that they found their engagement level that had previously eluded them in the cavernous echo chamber. While down 2-0 later in the first period, Tampa’s Blake Coleman took an opportunistic run at Brandon Carlo and Carlo’s partner, Torey Krug, did not like it.

Krug went after the bigger Coleman and, though it wasn’t much of a fight, it sparked his team. McAvoy got the Bruins to within one in the second period and then Chris Wagner tied the game by jamming home a loose puck after Andrei Vasilevskiy could not hang on to a Zdeno Chara shot.

“That was great for us,” said McAvoy of Krug’s confrontation. “It was great to create that energy for us on the bench. Torey is a guy who takes on a leadership role without having a letter. He’s someone we know who always comes and competes. And at that point in the game being down two goals and for him to step up – it was a hit he didn’t appreciate – and fight and bring passion and emotion into the game was awesome for us to see, especially in this setting here where you have to create your own energy. I think he saw that as an opportunity and got our bench going. We always appreciate when we stand up for each other.”

But alas, this did not have the ending the Bruins wanted, and it was a bugaboo that has been a constant theme in Toronto – puck management – that did them in. In the midst of a change, the Bruins simply gave the puck away at the Tampa Bay blue line and Johnson subsequently scored off a rebound of a Yanni Gourde shot.

“We had the puck on our stick with a minute and half to go, breaking out of our end and all of a sudden it’s coming back at us,” said Coach Bruce Cassidy. “That plagued us in the first two games and we have to clean that up.”

And now, after being the best team in the league by a large margin in the now-forgotten regular season, the Bruins can have a seed no higher than third.

“That part sucks, I’m not going to lie to you,” said Cassidy. “But that’s the situation this year with the stoppage of play. We knew the rules going into it. We knew we’d lose a bit of the advantage we’d gained so we are where we are now. We’re just trying to win a hockey game now and get our game together for 60 minutes for whoever we play.”

DUCKS: The Anaheim Ducks re-signed defenseman Jacob Larsson to a two-year, $2.4 million deal.

THURSDAY’S GAMES

CANUCKS 3, WILD 0: Brock Boeser and Elias Petterson each had a power-play goal and an assist, Jacob Markstrom made 27 saves for his first postseason shutout, and Vancouver beat Minnesota to take a 2-1 lead in their best-of-five qualifier series.

Antoine Roussel and Elias Pettersson also scored for the Canucks, who outlasted the Wild in another penalty-filled, extra-testy matchup and moved within one game of advancing to the first round in their first appearance in the playoffs since 2015.

FLYERS 3, CAPITALS 1: Scott Laughton had two goals and an assist to help Philadelphia beat Washington.

The Flyers won nine straight games before losing the final one before the COVID-19 shutdown. The Flyers have resumed the season with wins over Boston and the Capitals in the NHL’s playoff seeding round and can’t finish any worse than second in the Eastern Conference.

The Flyers play Tampa Bay on Saturday. The winner will earn the top seed in the East.

GOLDEN KNIGHTS 6, BLUES 4: Mark Stone scored the go-ahead goal on a deflection with under 7 minutes left, and Vegas took a big step toward clinching the top seed in the Western Conference by beating St. Louis.

Vegas would be the West’s No. 1 seed with a win against Colorado on Saturday. Despite leading the conference when the NHL season was shut down in March, defending Stanley Cup champion St. Louis can finish no higher than third and needs to beat Dallas on Sunday to avoid the No. 4 seed.

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