Not every Bruins game is destined to have a happy ending, apparently. But it took the B’s some convincing of that on Wednesday at the Garden in their 3-2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes.

The B’s fought back to erase a two-goal third deficit to tie the game, but Jordan Martinook slipped behind the surging Bruins for a clean breakaway. He snapped a shot that Linus Ullmark got a piece of, but it broke though him and dribbled into the net with 2:27 left in regulation.

The B’s pulled Ullmark but couldn’t get another equalizer and the B’s had their five-game win streak snapped. It was also their first regulation loss since Jan. 4.

With the B’s trailing 2-0 and struggling to generate any offense, coach Jim Montgomery mixed his lines, with Trent Frederic taking David Pastrnak’s spot on the Brad Marchand-Charlie Coyle line. The change worked, and the B’s finally got on board 1:30 into the third. The line put on a heavy forecheck until a loose puck squirted out to Frederic at the left side of the net. Frederic poked it over to Marchand, who roofed it over goalie Spencer Martin to pull the B’s within striking distance.

The line tied it at 7:20 off a pretty rush. Coyle and Frederic played give-and-go entering the zone. From the left wing, Frederic sent a return pass to Coyle for a tip attempt on which Martin made a terrific stop, but Marchand swooped in to slip the rebound between Martin’s pads.

Old friend Dmitry Orlov gave the B’s a great chance to take the lead when he hauled down Oskar Steen on a rush to the net with 6:31 left in regulation. But despite good zone time on the PP, the B’s could not get the go-ahead tally.

The Canes did, however, and they made it stand up for the win.

After Monday’s slog against the Winnipeg Jets, the first period had a good pace to it with both teams having a good chances. Only the Canes were able to capitalize on one late in the period, however.

With Brandon Carlo in the box for the holding the stick, Carolina took a 1–0 lead at 18:04 with a power-play goal from Martin Necas. With Stefan Noesen at the top of the crease taking away Ullmark’s eyes, Necas’ long wrister found its way to the back of the net.

While the B’s managed to fight through the Canes’ defense to get some in-tight chances on Spencer Martin, breaking out of their zone was a chore. Much like the Florida Panthers did to them in the playoffs last spring, the Canes continually picked off or at least deflected break-out passes in the neutral zone.

The Canes held a 10-8 shot advantage in the first.

Working on a power play to start the second, the Canes set the tone for a dominant second period, even after they kicked the last few seconds of that that PP. They hemmed the B’s in the Boston zone for most of the first half of the period, at one point outshooting the B’s 8-0.

And when Morgan Geekie was called for tripping, the Canes doubled their lead. Carolina kept the B’s original penalty killers – Marchand, Coyle, Carlo and Derek Forbort – on the ice for 1:39 before finally cashing in. The B’s ad a couple of chances to clear but couldn’t and, with Coyle having Teuvo Teravainen’s stick tied up, Teravainen somehow was able to reach through Coyle’s legs with his stick and snap a shot that beat Ullmark at 11:50.

Marchand did draw a penalty later in the period, but the B’s couldn’t do anything with it and went into the third down 2-0, a deficit that seemed like a mountain to climb despite their ability to fill the net since the Christmas break. The Canes held 13-8 edge in shots in the second but even that was no indicative of Carolina’s advantage in play in the period.