The Bruins finished the pre-trade deadline portion of their season with one of their best road efforts since the Christmas break, only to lose in a typically frustrating manner.

The Hurricanes had what looked the go-ahead goal when Taylor Hall scored off Mason Lohrei with 1:15 left in regulation but the B’s challenged for offside an, indeed, Jack Roslovic was deemed to be inside the zone before the puck on thee stretch pass.

But nobody spits out good breaks like the Bruins.

Carolina got the GWG with just 18.6 seconds left in the third. With time running out and the B’s in possession in their own zone, Nikita Zadorov tried to make breakout pass under little pressure. But Zodorov’s stick broke in his hands, the puck went right to Seth Jarvis and he buried it past Joonas Korpisalo for a 3-2 Hurricane win.

It could well be a fitting finish before the B’s sell some more pieces.  Now it’s a waiting game to see what players will be former Bruins by the time the clock strikes 3 pm on Friday

With each passing hour and Brad Marchand does not have a contract extension, the captain is getting that much closer to being dealt, or at least it seems that way. One Canadian insider, TSN’s insider Chris Johnston, reported that there’s a feeling that Marchand is “likely” going to be moved to a Western Conference team. Teams with obvious Marchand ties are old friend Bruce Cassidy and the Vegas Golden Knights, or perhaps with fellow Nova Scotian Nathan MacKinnon with the Colorado Avalanche.

We shall see if any deal comes to fruition. Neither the Knights nor Avs possess a first round pick, which would seem like a prerequisite to get a deal like this done. Also, Marchand has made it clear he wants to remain a Bruin and his stature on the team says that should mean something.

Meanwhile, Charlie Coyle, Brandon Carlo and Morgan Geekie – all subjects of trade speculation – were in the Thursday’s lineup in Carolina. Another one, Justin Brazeau, was not.

As for the game, it was a good effort for the B’s AHL-flavored lineup.

The two teams traded goals in a first period in which the Bruins had the edge in play, unless they were on the power play.

The B’s had two man advantages, the first of which was disastrous, the second of which was merely ineffective.

On the first power play, Sebastian Aho victimized two of the B’s most skilled players. After retrieving the puck in his own end, Mason Lohrei was rotating back to drop it for David Pastrnak but before he could complete the delayed-entry pass, Aho knocked it off his stick. As the puck slid toward the boards, Pastrnak and Aho converged on it and Pastrnak took the gamble of trying to poke it ahead. He lost. Aho maintained possession, moved in alone on Joonas Korpisalo and scored on a nice backhander at 6:29

But the B’s, who had a 14-9 shot advantage, kept playing hard and eventually tied it at 18:55. A long rebound of a Pavel Zacha shot came out to Morgan Geekie at the left circle and Geekie buried his 21st of the season.

Carolina regained the lead early in the second period. After Pyotr Kochetkov stoned Pastrnak on a breakaway, Brent Burns made it 2-1 on a good bounce for him when a bad angle shot went off Parker Wotherspoon’s stick and past Korpisalo.

The B’s continued to outplay the Canes but could not even the game in the second. They had a number of 2-on-1s but could not get a good shot off on any of them. The B’s held a 23-13 shot advantage through 40 minutes.

The B’s tied it again 1:14 into the third off the stick of Geekie again. Pastrnak took a puck from behind the Carolina net and threw a backhand on Kochetkov. Geekie kicked the rebound to his stick and tucked his 22nd home.

But then everything fell apart, including Zadorov’s stick, in the final minute…

The B’s lost another defenseman, Jordan Oesterle, who was claimed by the Nashville Predators on waivers on Thursday. Oesterle, signed by the B’s as a free agent, has another year left on his deal at the minimum of $775,000….

The B’s signed veteran forward Tyler Pitlick to a one-year, two-way contract worth an NHL cap hit of $775,000 for the remainder of this season. The 33-year-old Pitlick has played 43 games for Providence this year with 16-17-33 totals. He was placed on waivers in order for him to be eligible for the AHL playoffs.