It hasn’t been often where the Bruins’ sloppy efforts turned into something positive over the last few years, but they managed to do just that on Sunday.

Playing their second game of a back to back – less than 24 hours after one of their better efforts from start to finish of 2016-17 in South Florida – the Bruins seemed to trip over their own two feet both figuratively and literally against the Carolina Hurricanes. In spite of all that, the Bruins managed to get an important point and maintained their second place spot in the Atlantic Division after their 4-3 overtime loss in Raleigh.

Here is what we learned as the B’s have taken three points in the first two games of their road trip that continues Tuesday night in St. Louis.

Another returnee, but at expense of a young and improving blue-liner

Against his former team, John-Michael Liles returned to the Bruins lineup for the first time since suffering a concussion in the B’s 4-1 win over the Lightning on November 27. That return came at a cost, however, as Colin Miller was deemed a healthy scratch after skating for 11 straight games.

For a guy that’s seen improvement in his second season with the club, the decision to scratch Miller is rather a head-scratcher. The 24-year-old leads all Bruins defensemen in shots on goal with 54 and has been more assertive in all three zones since his rookie season a year ago.

Instead of dressing a player who has a good shot and can transition the puck quickly, Julien opted to stick with Kevan Miller and Adam McQuaid.

As for Liles, it took him awhile to get his feet from underneath him as is usually the case with anyone coming back from injury. The veteran notched 15:14 of ice time and committed the turnover that led to Sebastian Aho’s overtime winner – his second of the night.

What is goaltender interference?

Who knows how the game would have played out if Aho’s first goal was disallowed. Instead, it’s just another what if in a season of what if’s for the Bruins.

With a 1-0 Bruins lead and in a battle with Brandon Carlo in front of the net, Aho notched his ninth of the season following a lengthy review after Julien used his coaches challenge for goaltender interference. It appeared Aho didn’t make enough of an effort to avoid contact with Zane McIntyre as he shouldered his way towards the reigning goaltender of the month, but the call stood and led to the ‘Canes evening things up in the second period.

The two continuing questions out of all of this? What is and what isn’t goaltender interference and is the coaches challenge actually helping the game? At the very least the latter is slowing down the flow of the game.

Power play finds more ways to outdo itself

So much for the man advantage having scored in two straight games.

After a 5-on-3 goal in their 4-3 loss to the Oilers, and their 5-on-4 goal in Florida less than 24 hours ago, the Bruins went back to having a man disadvantage in their only opportunity against the Hurricanes.

Trailing 2-1 late in the second period, the Bruins’ lone power play attempt saw Torey Krug and Zdeno Chara slip on the ice leading to a pair of shorthanded breakaways for the Hurricanes. Luckily for the B’s, McIntyre, who certainly deserved a better fate in his third start of his NHL career, denied both chances.

The Bruins and Hurricanes came in tied for first in penalty kill percentage. Both teams were successful in their lone shorthanded situation(s).

Brad Marchand and David Backes heating up

Not all was negative for the Black and Gold on Sunday. In addition to the fourth line’s aggressive forecheck and drive to the net, a pair of players in the top six are giving the offense a much-needed boost.

David Backes notched his 11th goal of the year off a rebound to even things up at 2-2 at 5:49 of the third. That tying goal was short lived after Jay McClement’s tally deflected off of Austin Czarnik at 7:20, but Brad Marchand answered 23 seconds later for another equalizer for his 13th.

Since returning from his concussion, Backes has two goals in as many games and continues to give the team an energy boost when needed. Marchand, who had three goals in 15 games prior to his two-goal performance against the Panthers, now has three tallies in his last two.

Of course, the B’s would love to see contributions from everyone to solve their goal-scoring issues, and they’ve been better as of late. But they would like to see their top two lines carry most of the load, and Marchand and Backes have at least given them a little bit of a boost.