The Bruins were down three late, but a fan in Balcony 318 did not stop coaching the local hockey club late Monday night.

“Shoot,” the man yelled. “Shoot the puck,” he screamed once more. With the lower bowl emptying out and the crowd’s anticipation turning to boredom, it was the kind of bellow that left you certain there’s no way Morgan Geekie and Mason Lohrei (unable to gain the zone let alone shoot it), did not hear him four floors below. But when another pass and a line change came, the man lost it.

“For [expletive]’s sake, shoot the [expletive] puck,” he yelled.

It was a message heard by the Bruins’ Riley Tufte. But not with enough time remaining, as Tufte’s goal with just 9.6 seconds left in regulation was all the Bruins had to show their efforts in a 3-1 loss to the Hurricanes at TD Garden.

It was a loss that screamed emotional letdown after a full week of divisional showdowns, and a gutsy 3-2 win over the Canadiens this past Saturday night. And it was a letdown that was ‘powered’ by fatigue from the players on the bench to the head coach behind the bench, according to the man himself.

“I never look for an excuse, but even I felt it,” B’s head coach Marco Sturm said following the loss. “I felt it today. It was an emotional night the other night in Montreal, and we felt it in the morning, we felt it before the game.

“It was just a slow day today. And I could see it in their eyes. We were just mentally, physically not 100 percent today, that’s for sure.” 

The Bruins have shown a willingness to battle through anything this season.

But Monday night may have came with the confirmation that there’s a limit to what the Bruins can overcome and still get results. See, this loss (just Boston’s third in their last 12 games) came with the Bruins down four lineup regulars, with Viktor Arvidsson and Charlie McAvoy the latest losses from the B’s lineup, joining Elias Lindholm and Casey Mittelstadt on the shelf.

That, with fatigue mixed in, is not a strong recipe against a team like Carolina.

The Hurricanes proved as much when they pumped two second-period tallies by the Bruins’ Jeremy Swayman (29 saves in the losing effort), added another in the third when Taylor Hall pounced on a 50-50 battle against Nikita Zadorov, and denied the Bruins a goal until their 30th and final shot of the evening.

“They’re not all gonna be at the Bell Centre on Hockey Night in Canada,” Bruins forward Alex Steeves said. “We didn’t have enough emotion tonight.” 

Up front, Tufte and Matej Blumel made their season debuts for Boston. In addition to the goal, Tufte finished this game with two shots and a hit in 15:13, while Blumel had a giveaway and one shot in 13:10 of ice time.

Up next, the Bruins will head out to California for a three-game road swing that will kick off Wednesday night against the Ducks. The Bruins lost to the Ducks by a 7-5 final when these teams squared off in Boston back in October.