This problem plagued Boston in the tough OT loss to Utah

The Boston Bruins won't have fond memories of their first game against the Utah Hockey Club.

The Bruins built a one-goal lead in the third period and then watched as Michael Kesselring fired a shot past Jeremy Swayman to lead Utah to a 2-1 overtime victory at the Delta Center on Saturday night.

The Bruins shared some of the blame for the loss, as turnovers were by far their biggest problem – and a recurring theme in their three losses this season. Boston recorded a season-high 22 giveaways, allowing Utah to steal a win from the Bruins.

“We never felt like we were in control of the game,” Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery told NESN’s Andy Brickley, according to the network’s postgame coverage. “We turned the puck over too many times and our puck support was actually the best we had ever played in terms of puck support and puck possession until about five minutes before we gave up the tying goal.”

Morgan Geeke, returning to the lineup after a healthy loss to the Colorado Avalanche, had four turnovers, the most for his team. David Pastnrak, Matthew Poitras and Mason Lohrei weren't far behind with three giveaways each.

The Bruins definitely needed better puck possession, especially against a team as talented as Utah. Turning the puck over fueled Utah as the Bruins tried to keep up with their opponent's high speed.

“It's really about smarter puck play,” Bruins captain Marchand told reporters, as seen in NESN postgame coverage. “We were knocking over a lot of pucks at the blue lines or in the neutral zone, and they were reloading and kind of coming at us with speed. “I think if we were to make bigger plays on the wall, get them deep and If we were to play behind them and get the guys to play deep with their skills, that limits that a little bit. But we didn’t do it well enough.”

The good news is that the Bruins can use the loss to Utah as a learning experience and put it to good use when facing faster teams in the future. It was a difficult lesson and prevented Boston from getting two points, but the Bruins won't dwell on it.

“We’re watching a movie (Sunday). We’ve already moved on,” Swayman told reporters, as seen in NESN postgame coverage. “We take the positive and move on. That's what's special about our group. So on to the next one.”

Here are more notes from Saturday's Bruins-Utah Hockey Club game:

— How many people would have seen Cole Koepke as Boston's second-leading scorer through six games? Probably no one. The Bruins rookie scored his third goal of the season in the second period when he beat Connor Ingram through the five-hole. Koepke scored just one goal in 26 games with the Tampa Bay Lightning over the past two seasons.

“Me and (Marchand) got a little break and he hit one of their guys and was like first touch for me,” Koepke told reporters of his goal, which was featured on NESN postgame coverage. “I just went into a one-on-one interview. I knew Marchy was going to come in on the side of his bottom stick, so I just tried to get him to the other side and either let him go in the way he was or hopefully a rebound would pop out his side .”

– Nikita Zadorov fills up the stat sheet, but not in the way the Bruins were hoping. The 6-foot-2, 220-pound defenseman committed another penalty against Utah, giving him at least one penalty in each of Boston's first six games. Zadorov scored a team-high four goals in the loss.

– Swayman did almost everything he could to lead the Bruins to victory. He managed 30 saves, including a pair of highlight stops, and his effort didn't go unnoticed for Montgomery.

“Jeremy Swayman was our best player tonight,” Montgomery told Brickley. “I thought he was very sharp, I thought he read plays and he gave us an opportunity to try to win in overtime.”

– The Bruins finish their three-game road trip on Tuesday against the Nashville Predators. Puck drop from Bridgestone Arena is scheduled for 8:45 p.m. ET, and you can watch the game and an hour of pregame coverage on NESN.