SUNRISE — Boston Bruins coach Marco Sturm said his team did not “respect’’ the Florida Panthers enough coming into Thursday night’s game.

It certainly was costly.

The Panthers, minus 11 regulars (a total that, to be fair, included Sasha Barkov, who has been out since September), certainly had a lineup the Bruins may not have known all too well.

On the white board inside the visitors’ room at the arena were names the Bruins simply are not used to seeing when it comes to games against their new(ish) rival.

And, yet.

The Panthers scored twice in the first period off goals from Mackie Samoskevich and Sam Bennett then watched Sergei Bobrovsky — whom the Bruins know quite well — do the rest in a 2-1 win.

Bobrovsky was great, making 15 of his 28 saves in the third period.

He was not alone in playing like the Panthers y’all have come to know and love.

The Panthers came to play.

Boston came hard late, but Bobrovsky and the rest of the Panthers did not let the Bruins get any closer in a defensive clinic.

This was despite having three d-men who will end their seasons in the AHL playoffs with the Charlotte Checkers.

Seth Jones, Gus Forsling, and Donovan Sebrango all eclipsed 20 minutes of playing time in an effort that was, in a word, outstanding. Mike Benning, Toby Bjornfot, and Mikulas Hovorka also played well in fewer minutes on the ice.

“We didn’t respect our opponent tonight,’’ said Sturm, who is in his first season behind the Boston bench. Coincidentally, he ended his playing career with the Panthers in 2012 and wore No. 16 for Florida before Barkov took it in 2013 and became the last Panthers player who will ever wear it before it heads to the rafters.

“They had a lot of guys out, and we didn’t do our job. Shame on us today. It was a big push in the third, but it was a little bit too late. With a team like that, I don’t care who is out, they are a good structure team and played hard. We weren’t willing to do it.’’

When told of Sturm’s remarks, Paul Maurice sounded like he understood.

After all of these years in the NHL, he certainly does. Maurice’s teams have been in both situations many times over the years.

Boston’s self-inflicted predicament Thursday, however, was not his problem.

“They are used to seeing some certain names when you play the Florida Panthers,’’ said Maurice, whose team went 3-0 against the Bruins this season.

“We’ve had a couple good seasons here. So, we got 11 players out when they’re coming to the rink. And that didn’t look like a Panthers-Bruins game. There was one minor [penalty] through two periods. That has nothing to do with how we play each other.

”We can’t be responsible for how other teams perceive us. Our guys played.”

Yeah they did.

The Panthers have avoided elimination from the Stanley Cup Playoffs with wins over Ottawa and Boston on this brief two-game homestand.

Florida remains the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions until the math says they are not.

It looked like the Panthers take pride in that to the point where they did not want the numbers to go against them on home ice.

“They came out right the last two games,” Maurice continued. “They were ready to play, excited to play. The bench was energetic. They are not just going through the motions. They played hard and deserved to win the game especially when you look at the adversity we have had coming into it.’’

Up 2-0, Boston scored late in the first period and it looked like the Panthers had a fight on their hands.

And they did.

Only the Panthers completely sold out as if this was a playoff game, holding strong to get the win.

The Panthers, do not kid yourselves, will be knocked out of the playoffs soon enough.

It may even come before they hit the ice Saturday evening in Pittsburgh.

But they continue to fight, scratch, and claw.

Those who showed up the past two games wearing Panthers colors were certainly entertained.

Both the Bruins and Senators threw everything they had at the Panthers in the third period the past two games, only for Florida to send it right back.

Tuesday, the Panthers killed off a long penalty to keep the score where it was; Thursday, they did the same.

Florida’s penalty kill is ranked fourth-best in the NHL despite all of the injuries and mass substitutions.

Some of their best killers (not just Barkov, but Anton Lundell, Sam Reinhart, and Aaron Ekblad) are on the IR.

Does not seem to matter much.

Sturm and Ottawa coach Travis Green left Sunrise unhappy the past couple of nights.

Their teams are, more than likely — Boston is in, we’ll see about Ottawa — headed to the playoffs.

The Panthers are not.

But they are certainly showing a lot of heart when counted out.

“It was a good game, very fun. Winning is fun and it is great to be with the guys,” Bobrovsky said.

“We had lots of young faces but they stepped up and did a great job. … [Boston is] a good team, you know they’re not going to go away. It was going to be a fight.

“You just try to savor the moment, enjoy the moment.’’

Do the Panthers have anything to play for at this point?

Not really.

But pride is a dangerous thing.

Just ask the Bruins.

ON DECK: GAME No. 76

FLORIDA PANTHERS at PITTSBURGH PENGUINS