Bruins fans showed up at the Garden on Friday looking for their team ton exact some old school vengeance on the Florida Panthers after some cheap shots were thrown in the Panthers’ lopsided win in Game 2.

The B’s, however, were not ready for the moment. And when they finally woke up, it was too late.

The Florida Panthers, far quicker to the puck than the B’’s in the first two periods, raced out to a 4-0 lead and withstood a Bruin rally in the third period for a 5-2 victory in Game 3

After a nasty third period in Game 2, many expected the B‘s to come out flying in the first period. But the Panthers had another idea.

Florida dominated the opening 20 minute, outshooting the B’s 13-3 and coming away with a 1-0 lead.

And the B’s did as much to shoot themselves in the foot as the Panthers gave them problems.

The B’s got called for the first penalty of the game on a ticky-tack holding call on Pavel Zacha. They killed that off, but when Zacha came out of the box, he promptly turned the puck over on an ill-advised backhand pass into the slot that didn’t connect with his target. The Panthers maintained control and Gustav Forsling flipped a puck toward the net that popped in the air. From the top of the crease, Evan Rodrigues batted it home at 8:04.

Jeremy Swayman was looking for a review, but the B’s thought better of it.

As expected, there was some pushing and shoving, with Pat Maroon collaring Oliver Ekman-Larsson at one point but the Panther defenseman wanted no part of the Bruin.

The B’s also took the second penalty of the game when, after the puck was far gone, Morgan Geekie hammered Sasha Barkov into the boards and was rightly whistled for interference.

The B’s again killed it off and made it into the first intermission down by just a goal.

It would not be the case after two periods.

The B’s looked like they were slowly warming up in the second period, spurred on by a great Swayman glove save on Rodrigues on a 2-on-1.

They got their first power pay, which they did nothing with. But then they started to get a few chances.. Their best one came when Morgan Geekie deflected a shot and dribbled just wide of the cage.

And with the building finally buzzing, Mason Lohrei was tagged with a double minor for high-sticking Steven Lorentz and it turned out to be disastrous.

One the first half of the double minor, the B’s did not get the puck out once until Vladimir Tarasenko sniped a wrist shot over Swayman’s shoulder at 16:14, with 23 seconds left on the first minor.

Then the Panthers put the hammer down on the next minor, making it 3-0 a minute after the Tarasenko goal when, from the top of the crease, Carter Verhaeghe redirected a beautiful Matthew Tkachuk pass.

That made it nine straight goals for the Panthers in the last two games and the second straight period boos were heard for the home period.

What made things even worse, Brad Marchand did not return for the third period, possibly resulting from a hit in the first period that wobbled him.

With all the life drained from the building to start the third period, the Panthers added a third power-play goal after Jakub Lauko was called for goalie interference after Aaron Ekblad clearly ran him into Sergei Bobrovsky. It was a truly awful call, and coach Jim Montgomery gave it to the refs.

On the advantage, Brandon Montour scored from the blue line on what appeared to be a flash screen by John Beecher at 3:09.

The B’s finally got on the board at 5:01 when, on a delayed penalty call, Lauko beat Bobrovsky from the left circle.

Jake DeBrusk got the B’s back to within two at 8:31 when he took a Lohrei feed and ripped a wrist shot past Bobrovsky’s glove to make it 4-2.

The B’s then got a power play and they had several great chances, a couple by Justin Brazeau and another by David Pastrnak but they could not get any closer.

The hole the B’s had dug for themselves was far too deep for a happy ending on this night. Sam Reinhart ended it with an empty-netter with 1:24 remaining. And the B’s were left wondering how to show up on time for Game 4.