amateur sports journalist

On Thursday night, the Boston Bruins continued their west-coast road trip in Vegas, where a 2-1 loss against the Golden Knights continued their pattern of losing in overtime that has plagued them their entire trip. 

The first period was very quiet, with the first fifteen minutes of play lacking any noteworthy plays like breakaways, penalties, or goals, though both teams were skating with purpose and intensity, creating opportunities but failing to capitalize on them. With less than five minutes to play in the first, Boston was called for a tripping penalty on van Riemsdyk, though the contact was minimal and the Vegas skater seemed to have been already off balance. The Bruins were nearly to the end of this penalty when Lindholm was called for high-sticking, and the Golden Knights had twenty-one seconds of five-on-three play. With an excellent performance from Swayman and a strong penalty kill from the rest of the Bruins special teams unit, the final seconds of van Riemsdyk’s penalty and the remaining Vegas man-advantage was killed, and the period ended 0-0. 

The second period was even quieter, as is common for Bruins’ second periods. Vegas got another power play opportunity halfway through the game on another questionable call. McAvoy was sent to the box for delay of game, though the puck he sent into the stands appeared to have deflected off a Golden Knight’s stick. Another fantastic penalty kill from Jeremy Swayman kept the game tied at zeroes. The next power play would be in the Bruins’ favor, as Vegas defenseman McNabb’s stick found the face of Trent Frederic, and he was sent for high sticking. Despite a high-effort power play, especially from Zacha who hustled hard to create multiple opportunities, the Bruins also failed to score on the man-advantage, and the second period expired without a score. 

The third began with a slight scare for the Golden Knights when play was stopped for a possible injury from Vegas goalie Thompson, though he was able to recover enough during the stoppage to remain in the game. The Bruins were unable to pressure-test Thompson in the following minutes, as Heinen was called for hooking (another questionable call on minimal contact), and sent to the box. Luckily, Vegas forward Barbashev is called for tripping just a minute later, and the remainder of Heinen’s penalty is skated 4-on-4. Both penalties were killed without any change in score. Shortly after, Heinen would make a return appearance to the penalty box for tripping, giving the Golden Knights a fifth power play opportunity, and which they used to take the lead. They were able to move the puck very well around our tired defense, and Marchessault’s pass to Eichel in front of the net was exactly what he needed to finally get past Swayman’s strong defenses, putting Vegas up 1-0. Knights’ centerman Cotter gives the Bruins a matching opportunity two minutes later when he is called for interference (after nearly putting the puck in his own net, not to mention). Boston doesn’t find the back of the Vegas net in the following two minutes, but shortly after the end of the powerplay instead. From his spot along the blue line, Matt Grzelcyk shoots the puck through traffic and past the goal line, scoring the game 1-1 with less than eight minutes left in the period. These final minutes tilt heavily in favor of the Bruins, though Vegas is given one more opportunity when an impressive save from Swayman puts him out of position, but is backed up by both his defenseman who put themselves between the puck and the net while the goalie recovers. Regulation ends with a score of 1-1. 

Despite the even play for the previous sixty minutes, the Bruins failed to compete in the brief overtime period. Vegas won the faceoff, and maintained possession as they looked for their opportunity to score. A failed steal attempt from Pastrnak gives them the moment they were looking for, as the out-of-position Bruins forward created a 2-on-1 opportunity against Lindholm, who could not block Stone’s pass or Pietrangelo’s shot, which finds the back of the Bruins net less than a minute into overtime, ending the game with a final score of 2-1. 

It is important to emphasize that this game was low-scoring, though not low offensive pressure from either team. Both goaltenders did a fantastic job of keeping the puck out of their respective nets. While disappointing, it is no surprise that the Bruins lost yet another game. Combining the later start time than usual, one more game than usual in a week, and being on the back-half of a road trip, these boys are tired. They are also missing a number of players from their lineup, as Carlo, Poitras, and Ullmark have all sustained injuries over the last few games, leading to interesting line combinations. 

The Bruins play next on Saturday, January 13th at 8pm EST against the St. Louis Blues in their final game of their road trip. 

BRUINS LINES (01/11/24) 

Boqvist - Zacha - Pastrnak Marchand - Coyle - DeBrusk Heinen - Geekie - Frederic  Van Riemsdyk - Beecher - Lauko

After their game against Colorado just the night before, the Bruins met the Arizona Coyotes at Mullett Arena on Tuesday night, where they collected another overtime L in their west coast road trip, along with a couple more injuries. 

The first period would see a handful of penalties on both teams, with each team getting a power play opportunity within the first five minutes. Arizona’s opportunity came first after a Frederic holding penalty, but the Coyotes were unable to maintain possession and the penalty was killed with zero shots on goal. The Bruins would go next after Coyote defenseman Dumba hooked Lohrei. Geekie had a failed attempted set up from Marchand, though Zacha tipped the rebound to Pastrnak, who patiently waited for his moment to sink the puck over the shoulder of Arizona goalie Ingram. Those were the only two man advantage opportunities, though halfway through the period, Marchand instigated a scrum which resulted in a cross checking and unsportsmanlike conduct penalties on Marchand himself, and two penalties on Coyotes with Keller going for cross checking and Schmaltz going for roughing. Play continued 5-on-5, and neither team would change the score through the end of the period, with the Bruins ahead 1-0 after the first period.

The second period would see much of the same physicality that the first period brought, which included a fight between Frederic and O’Brien. The Arizona forward was also called for roughing, as Frederic had been tangled with Derzi before O’Brien picked the fight. Boston was unable to take advantage of their resulting power play. The Coyotes would have the next man advantage after a Grzelcyk tripping penalty. Arizona centerman Keller created his own opportunity, gaining possession and scoring off his own rebound. While this goal tied the score 1-1, the Bruins would answer quickly on a 3-on-3 rush led by Boqvist. As his linemates crashed towards the net, he shot instead of a passing, and sent the puck top-shelf into the Arizona goal. The Bruins couldn’t hold the lead through the end of the period, beefing a line change by turning the puck over, resulting in a goal by forward Guenther. The score after two periods was tied 2-2. 

The Bruins defense did not come out of the intermission ready to play, and would give the Yotes the lead after Lohrei turned the puck over to Crouse. Ullmark was able to stop his breakaway shot, but McAvoy failed to poke the rebound away from Maccelli, who scored on the second attempt. The Bruins would get lucky when Crouse got called a few minutes later for playing the puck with a broken stick, and sent the Bruins on the power play, where DeBrusk would tie the game 3-3. While both teams would get another power play opportunity before the end of regulation (separate high sticking penalties on Coyote Durzi and Bruin Zacha), neither team could get the puck across the goal line before the start of overtime. 

The Bruins, who won the first faceoff of the overtime period, managed to immediately get the puck to an open Pastrnak, who had a breakaway attempt against Ingram that was skillfully saved. Keller would get a similar breakaway attempt to Pastrnak, and would be similarly shut down by Ullmark. This was the last shot on goal that Ullmark would stop before he injured himself reacting to a goal that sailed over the net. His injury is unknown as of now, but was likely a back or lower-body injury based on how he was moving after play stopped. Swayman would substitute in, though hadn’t gotten any action since warmups over two hours earlier. The Bruins had another scoring opportunity before Swayman could be pressure-tested, with another Pastrnak breakaway. Though he managed to beat the goalie, the puck connected with the post and bounced back into play. When possession returned to the Coyotes, Schmaltz’s shot managed to get past Swayman, still cold from his time on the bench, winning the game for Arizona with a final score of 4-3. 

Fresh off another game the night before, it is no surprise the Bruins aren’t able to clutch a victory against Arizona. They were also missing one of their top defensemen, Brandon Carlo, who was injured in their last game. This brought Mason Lohrei back into the lineup, along with James van Riemsdyk, who had been out for an undisclosed injury. Despite half of the lineup changes being defensive, the Bruins offensive lines were mixed and matched all game, even before center Matt Poitras was injured in the second period. While some variation is expected, the lines tonight verged from unlikely to extreme (briefly Geekie, Poitras, and Frederic were all on the ice, all players who can center, and two who are almost exclusively centers). With the injuries from today’s game (Poitras and Ullmark), it is expected that the Bruins lineup will continue to shift as the west coast road trip continues. 

On Monday night, the Bruins faced the Avalanche in a fast-paced game that showcased some of the league’s top teams playing high-quality hockey. Tied 3-3 after regulation and the five minute overtime, Avalanche forward Valeri Nichushkin ended the game with a shootout goal that took the game home for Colorado. 

Full transparency, I missed most of the first period, so my impression comes from the play-by-play and the opinion of my father, who caught me up on what I had missed. The Bruins would draw first blood on their first power play opportunity—a tripping penalty on Cogliano—scored by Marchand and assisted by Zacha and Pastrnak. Colorado also had two first-period opportunities with the man advantage, the first being uncontrolled enough for the Bruins to take two shots on goal. The second, a tripping penalty on Coyle, resulted in a goal by Rantanen to tie the game 1-1, where it remained through the end of the 1st period. 

It did not take Colorado long to gain momentum in the 2nd period, as a miscommunication between Shattenkirk and Zacha gave Avalanche winger O’Connor the opportunity to steal the puck in the Bruins’ zone and sink a wide open shot on Swayman. The Bruins continued to give opportunities to their opponents, as Heinen drew a tripping penalty while in their offensive zone, though this penalty was killed. Soon after, in a strange call from the officials, both teams were penalized for too many men, resulting in a 4-on-4 that did not impact the game, but felt should be included for how strange (and seemingly impossible) matching Too Many Men penalties is. Back at full strength, the Bruins would be the first to regain momentum and score when Beecher netted a rebound from an attempted wrap-around shot from Heinen, tying the game at 2-2 just after the halfway mark of the game. Colorado would not settle for this score as the period ticked down, and put up another goal with two minutes left in the second. This goal came from defenseman Malinski at the blue line on a shot through traffic that Swayman could not track. After the end of the second, Colorado was winning 3-2. 

The Bruins would manage to tie the game six minutes into the third period, on an excellent opportunity created by Marchand and Coyle, who skated strongly to gain and maintain possession. While it was Marchand’s shot that would tie the game, Coyle waited patiently for the right moment to connect the pass and line Marchand up for his second goal of the game. The intensity of play increased after the tying goal, as both teams were looking for a win during regulation. While neither team connected for a goal at full strength, Grzelyck’s puck would find the face of Avalanche centerman Johansen, and the Bruins were sent on the penalty kill. This PK was crucial, not just to maintain the tie, but because it was announced before the third period that Brandon Carlo sustained an upper body injury and would be missing the rest of the game. Against such a fast, highly-skilled offense, Carlo was a tough loss, especially when it comes to killing penalties. Not only would the Bruins kill Grzelyck’s high-sticking penalty, they would also kill Lindholm’s interference penalty that was drawn with less than three minutes left in the game. The Bruins would take Colorado to overtime with a score of 3-3 at the end of regulation. 

As the 3-on-3 play started in the Overtime both teams maintained strong possession with limited avoidable turnovers. The Bruins would be lucky when O’Connor drew a holding penalty on Zacha, giving Boston a man advantage through two of the five minutes of overtime. Despite their extra skater, the Bruins could not close out the game before the end of the five minutes, and were sent to the shootout. The Bruins sent DeBrusk first, who got the puck poked away by goalie Georgiev. MacKinnon was the Avs first shooter, who couldn’t get past Swayman’s glove. Coyle’s attempt went wide on a backhand, and Rantanen also failed a glove-side attempt on the Bruins goalie. Pastrnak would look for Georgiev’s 5-hole, but be blocked, which left Colorado the chance to end it by scoring with their third shooter. They sent out Nichushkin, who finally was able to put it past Swayman’s glove, and clutch the win for Colorado. 

Saturday evening, the Bruins hosted the Lightning for their second matchup of the season. This game followed Thursday’s loss to the Penguins, where five goals was not enough to win against Pittsburgh’s offense, led by Sidney Crosby, but indicated the hunger from Boston’s offense that continued into their game against Tampa. Trent Frederic led the Bruins offensively with two of the seven Boston goals against the Lightning, having scored five goals total in his last four games. 

The first period opened similarly to the last game, with a puck finding the back of the Boston goal within the first minute. This one was from Tampa centerman Point after winger Kucherov collected the puck on a failed pass between Bruins players Geekie and Lindholm. Boston is lucky for a power play opportunity just two minutes later when Tampa defenseman de Haan pulls Pastrnak to the ground as he falls and is called for holding. It is just as this penalty is expiring that Shattenkirk connects a pass from the blue line to Frederic posted just in front of the goalie, who quickly puts it past Vasilevskiy, tying the game 1-1. The Bruins would have another power play when Hagel goes to the box, but the Bruins are unable to capitalize, despite their sustained puck control. Tampa had their chance next when Geekie was called for a hooking penalty about halfway through the period. Despite the Lightning being tied for first in power play goals, they were unable to score on Geekie’s penalty, and even let up a 2-on-1 rush from the shorthanded Bruins. With about five minutes left in the period, the puck would clear the Tampa goal line one more time when McAvoy shot the puck through traffic in front of the net and was able to bounce the puck off the stick of Brayden Point before it rebounded into his own net, allowing Boston to go up 2-1 by the end of the first period. 

The second period did not get as quick of a start as the first, but within the first two minutes saw a number of things happen. Matt Poitras, just back on the Bruins roster, took a slightly late hit and was on the ice for a bit as Frederic scored his second goal of the night, putting in his own rebound back off the goalie and into the net. It appears that head coach Jon Cooper heard a whistle blowing the play dead to check on the injured Poitras, though the whistle blew shortly after the puck crossed the goal line. Cooper had a strong reaction and drew a bench minor for his behavior. This penalty was served by Eyssimont, and passed without any change in the score, leaving the game at 3-1 in favor of the Bruins. The next penalty was drawn by Lightning defenseman Myers after holding Lauko, though the Bruins had little time to capitalize before Geekie was sent BACK to the box for interference, giving both teams about 90 seconds of 4-on-4 play. The extra space seemed to favor both teams, taking turns scoring on each other and jumping the score to 4-2. The Lightning goal was from Kucherov, who recovered the puck when DeBrusk lost track in the Bruins’ zone and scored unassisted. The Bruins goal followed thirty seconds later as Pastrnak had a breakaway opportunity, outskating centerman Motte for the goal. Still looking to tie the game up, Brayden Point would score another goal before the end of the period, as Kucherov created an excellent opportunity for him by outskating Lindholm. The score after the second was 4-3 in favor of the Bruins. 

The third period started similarly to the second, with a Boston goal within the first two minutes. The scoring opportunity started in the Bruins’ defensive zone when the puck was recovered by Lindholm, passed up to Pastrnak, who entered the zone quickly, leaving Geekie a clear shot, which he took quickly, beating Vasilevskiy. This goal helped redeem Geekie’s earlier blunders that led to the first two Tampa Bay goals. The Lightning was given another opportunity on the man advantage when Grzelcyk was sent to the box for hooking. The Bruins put up a strong PK despite two Bruins losing or breaking their sticks during the course of play, which is the result of Ullmark knowing when to stop the play and allow a reset. After Boston’s strong penalty kill, the Lightning added extra reinforcements to their next power play opportunity (slashing from Boqvist) by pulling the goalie with almost five minutes left to play. Despite their 6-on-4 advantage, a tragic stick break from Lightning defenseman Hedman at the blue line gave DeBrusk the opportunity he needed to steal the puck and slide it into the open net, also atoning for his part in the Kucherov goal. This put the Bruins comfortably ahead 6-3, but they were not done quite yet, as Coyle had a garbage-time breakaway opportunity just as Boqvist’s penalty expired, ending the game with an impressive final score of 7-3. 

This win is exactly what the Bruins needed right before a four-game road trip in the West. It also saw a shuffling of the lineup, with some expected changes and others that were a bit surprising. Center Matt Poitras, back from playing for team Canada in the Hockey World Juniors tournament, was a happy homecoming, and unsurprisingly, young center Merkulov was not in the lineup, likely sent back to Providence. Beecher was also out of the lineup, swapping back with Lauko. Unexpectedly in the lineup was Jesper Boqvist, taking the place of winger James van Riemsdyk, who is out with an undisclosed injury. The Bruins defense also had a minor change, as Lohrei’s usual spot (in Forbert’s absence) was replaced with Wotherspoon instead, seemingly a rest day for the young defenseman who isn’t conditioned for an 82 game season. Overall, these changes demonstrate the Bruins’ bench depth and promise for later in the season for rest-day rotations to keep our players fresh and energized. 

The Bruins play next at 9PM EST Monday night against the Colorado Avalanche. 

BRUINS LINES (1/6/24)

Zacha - Geekie - Pastrnak Marchand - Coyle - DeBrusk Heinen - Poitras - Frederic Lauko - Boqvist - Steen

On Thursday night, the Bruins returned to the Garden for a two-game break between road trips, matching up first against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Their offense, led by Sidney Crosby, outmatched the Bruins in a high-scoring, high-energy game showcasing the importance of puck possession and face-off wins. 

The first period opened with a goal from Brad Marchand only forty-two seconds into the game, sinking the puck off a rebound from Matt Grzelcyk’s shot attempt. Penguins winger O’Connor would score less than five minutes later with a second attempt shot of his own after getting on the inside of the Bruins defense, tying the game 1-1. Defenseman Graves would take the lead just 73 seconds later after his shot would plinko-bounce off both Coyle and Shattenkirk before it crossed the goal line. The Bruins would answer after a mere 22 seconds, as Pastrnak dangled and wrong-footed goalie Nedeljkovic, leaving the net open for an easy goal to tie the game at 2-2. It is here that the broadcast took its first commercial break. It’s not often you see four commercials before a commercial! When play returned, the Penguins didn’t hesitate to continue putting goals up with a set-play that spanned all 200 feet of ice. Letang sent a long pass from the Penguins defensive zone off their offensive boards, which Crosby recovered and passed to Guentzel for the third Pittsburgh goal in as many minutes. Shortly after, the Bruins would get a power play opportunity after Joseph’s stick found Geekie’s face, though the Bruins failed to capitalize. The power play looked sloppy and gave the Pens two separate rush attempts (one being a 2-on-0 rush), but neither rush resulted in a score either, and the penalty expired with an unchanged score. As the end of the first period approached, the Penguins managed one more goal for good measure, with Eller’s slapshot beating Swayman to the glove-side after a quick, cross-ice pass from O’Connor. At the end of the 1st, the score was 4-2 in favor of the Pens. 

The second period started much less intensely as the first, with nearly five minutes of unremarkable play favoring Pittsburgh before Carlo was sent to the Bruins penalty box for cross checking. Just as the Bruins penalty expired, centerman Carter uses his positioning in front of the goalie to score a garbage-man cleanup goal off a loose puck off a rebound from Letang. While technically a full-strength goal, Carlo had not yet returned to play. It is nearly halfway through the period before the Bruins manage enough sustained offensive possession to even attempt a shot on Nedeljkovic, though the first attempt of the period finds the back of the net, courtesy of a top-shelf snipe from Geekie. This reduced the Penguins’ lead from three to two, and set the score at 5-3 in favor of Pittsburgh. The Bruins had an opportunity to close the lead again with another power play opportunity after Letang hooked Coyle on a scoring opportunity, though their power play unit continued to struggle with sustained offensive pressure, but they did manage a few (unsuccessful) attempts. The Bruins instead managed to find another goal in the final minute of the period as Letang screened his own goalie from seeing Carlo’s blue-line shot, which found the back of the net. After 2 periods, the score was 5-4, Bruins still trailing. 

In the early minutes of the third period, McAvoy was sent to the box for a delay of game penalty for throwing the puck over the glass in a clearing attempt. To the luck (and hustle) of the Bruins, the only goal during McAvoy’s penalty was a short-handed goal from Marchand, who skated strongly around Letang’s defensive efforts before he found a gap in the goaltender on the top shelf, tying the game 5-5. Both teams' defenses manage to hold the other team from scoring until McAvoy gets sent to the box AGAIN for hooking with just under nine minutes left to play. It takes the Penguins’ power play unit less than ten seconds to score, regaining the lead with a score of 6-5. Despite some good attempts from the Bruins to score at full-strength, they pulled their goalie for the last two-and-a-half minutes of regulation. In this sequence, the Bruins win nearly a quarter of the faceoffs they won during the entire game, but fail to capitalize on their possession of the puck. The Penguins give them two final chances in the last eleven seconds, icing the puck twice and giving the Bruins two final faceoffs, neither of which can be turned into a goal, and the game ends with the Penguins ahead 6-5. 

This game reflects the offensive strength of both teams, as a collective eleven goals is a lot to see in a game of hockey. Despite the low (and nearly identical at 0.828/0.829) save percentages from the two goalies, neither looked bad. Both teams created quality scoring opportunities that exploited their opponent’s defensive weaknesses. One major factor, as mentioned earlier, was faceoff wins. The Penguins are the top team in the NHL for faceoffs, winning 65% against the Bruins. Since the retirement of Bergeron and Krejci, the Bruins have dropped significantly in faceoff prowess, which has been impacting their late-game strategy, as goalie pulls in the final minutes are difficult to handle when there is no way to ensure possession in these high-stakes minutes. While it affects these moments the most, it impacts the Bruins at every level of their game, and will be an ongoing problem until the Boston centermen can correct this issue in practice. Until then, the Bruins will continue to struggle at the end of the game in 6-on-5 situations, regardless of which side they are on. 

The Bruins play next on Saturday, January 6th at 7PM against the Tampa Bay Lightning. 

BRUINS LINES (1/4/23)

Marchand - Coyle - DeBrusk Zacha - Geekie - Pastrnak van Riemsdyk - Frederic - Heinen Beecher - Merkulov - Steen

On Tuesday night, the Boston Bruins were away against the Blue Jackets in their second meeting of the year. The whole Boston lineup would contribute to their four goals and victory over Columbus. 

The first period was rather quiet, with a lack of controlled possessions or clean passing from both teams. The Bruins were given two power play opportunities, only tallying a single shot on goal between the two of them. Both teams had a chance when Lohrei and Texier were called for matching penalties (holding and embellishment, respectively), but neither team managed a goal in the following 4-on-4. The last five minutes of the first period did seem promising for Columbus, as they doubled their shots on goal from their first fifteen minutes of play, though none of them found the back of the net. At the end of the first, the game was scoreless. 

The second period would see the lamp lit on both ends of the ice, coming first from the Bruins on a shot from defenseman Shattenkirk on a stick-side shot assisted by  Grzelcyk and Coyle. The Blue Jackets were quick to follow, with a goal from their own Kent Johnson less than two minutes later. The CBJ goal was assisted by Provorov and Voronkov. The Blue Jackets then had their first power play opportunity of the night after a holding penalty on Grzelcyk, though they were unable to take the lead. Next in the box was Columbus defenseman Severson, who got his stick between Geekie’s legs and was called for tripping. The Bruins power play, though it had struggled in the first period, managed to score a plinko-style goal, propelled by Lindholm and deflecting off of both DeBrusk and van Riemsdyk before finding the back of the Columbus net. After 40 minutes of play, the Bruins were up 2-1. 

The third period, much like the first, was rather uneventful, which reflects the lack of urgency from Columbus to tie the game again or prevent the Bruins from extending their lead. With a lack of defensive intensity from the opposition, the Bruins were able to score again, with Heinen beating Columbus goalie Spencer Martin after recovering the rebound from van Riemsdyk’s shot seconds before. After the Bruins doubled their lead, Columbus was left with less than thirteen minutes of regulation play to tie the game, though continued to skate with a distinct lack of urgency. By the time the final Bruins goal would cross the goal line (result of a rush from Frederic, assisted by van Riemsdyk), Columbus did not even pull their goalie in an attempt to tie the game, which ended 4-1 in favor of the Bruins. 

James van Riemsdyk was today’s point leader, participating in three of the Bruins four goals. Trent Frederic also has extended his goal streak, as he scored two in the last game against Detroit. This game also saw more from Hampus Lindholm who looked better than he has for much of this season both with points, as well as in the unmeasurable way of how well he handles the puck and connects passes. 

The Bruins are still missing Matt Poitras from their lineup, who should be returning shortly from the World Juniors tournament, but in his place temporarily is Georgii Merkulov, another young prospect who was the AHL player of the month for December. Despite his success at the AHL level, he has been very quiet during his time at the NHL. It is likely that he will be returning to Providence shortly to continue developing. 

Overall, this game was an indicator of what to expect over the next two months of hockey, where the fatigue has set in and the playoff scramble hasn’t started yet. While it’s good that the Bruins have turned around their luck after the holiday break, we can only hope that they stay fresh and sharp through this slow part of the season.

Hot on the heels of an embarrassing loss Friday night against Winnipeg, the Bruins are sent home on Saturday with yet another L, officially in the longest drought the Bruins have faced under head coach Jim Montgomery. 

The game was a rematch of the game played in Boston this past Tuesday, where the Wild took the win in overtime. These rematches are usually seen in a higher physicality, which was missing from much of the game, with the exception of the first period fight between Jakub Lauko and Brandon Duhaime. The fight came just mere seconds after Pastrnak scored on Kaprizov’s holding penalty, and was likely the attempt to keep the momentum up for the Bruins. While the play did favor Boston for the first 20 minutes, goalie Fleury was able to keep the score 0-1 through the end of the first. 

The game would not continue as the Bruins would have hoped, as defenseman Mitchell drew an interference penalty in the early second period. Joel Eriksson Ek would capitalize on this, though it took a high-effort, third-attempt shot to get the puck past Ullmark. Less than two minutes later, Kaprizov would follow it up with a goal of his own, as three Bruins were caught near the blue line and left ample room below for another Minnesota goal, putting the Wild up 2-1, where it remained for the rest of the period. 

The Bruins very nearly tie the game in the first minute of the third period, when Brad Marchand has what looks like an open net opportunity on a rebound off Fleury, though Wild defenseman Bogosian defends the net behind his goalie and manages to stop the shot from the Bruins captain. The next opportunity favored the Wild, as they had a power play opportunity following a high-sticking call on centerman Coyle. Marcus Foligno scores just three seconds after the penalty expires, with an assist from Maroon, who had inside positioning between defenseman Wotherspoon and the goalie. This goal put the Wild up 3-1. From here, the game tilts further in favor of Minnesota. A strong forecheck puts pressure on the Bruins offense, who struggles to maintain possession or zone time. This is made worse by a penalty on Fredric, who goes to the box for interference after a late hit. The Bruins kill that penalty with nothing worse than a rung post, and manage to regain enough control for some offensive pressure. This allows the opportunity for Heinen to recover the puck behind the Wild goalie, and make a nice pass from Gretzky’s office to the tape of Geekie’s stick, who finally gets a puck past Fleury after two failed rushes earlier in the game. This closes the lead to one goal, and opens up an opportunity for the Bruins to send the game to overtime when they pull their goalie. Unfortunately, even with the extra skater, they did not have the offensive pressure and puck control to tie the game, and the time expired with the score 3-2 in favor of the Minnesota Wild. 

While the Bruins may be on a losing streak, their defense this game was a result of a number of injuries. Forbert and Grzelcyk are both currently out with injuries, and Shattenkirk was also out, seemingly as a healthy scratch, meaning that half of the defensive players (Lohrei, Wotherspoon, Mitchell) are not our top players. Even so, the defense is not the only issue with the Bruins play today. Another major factor was the difference in offensive pressure and shots on goal. By the end of the game, the Wild had outshot the Bruins 34-21, and there was a period where the Wild had over double the Bruins shots on goal.