BSJ Game Report: Lightning 3, Bruins 2 - Charlie McAvoy returns, but B’s can’t rally back taken at BSJ Headquarters (Bruins)

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BSJ Game Report: Lightning 3, Bruins 2 - Charlie McAvoy returns, but B’s can’t rally back

By Conor Ryan

Dec 6, 2018 • 10:48 pm

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Everything you need to know from the Bruins’ 3-2 loss against the Tampa Bay Lightning in quickie form, with BSJ insight and analysis:

BOX SCORE

HEADLINES

Bruins in uncharted territory: A grueling NHL schedule leads to its fair share of bumps and bruises, but it’s all crashing together into a perfect storm for the Bruins. There’s plenty of things you can point to for the B’s — whether it be injuries or a laboring offense — but the bottom line is that Boston is crumbling at a crucial time.

During a stretch in which Boston faces off exclusively against Atlantic Division foes, Boston has now dropped three straight games in regulation — the first time the B’s have had to go through a stretch like that since losing four in a row all the way back on March 16-23, 2017.

The effort level was better against a loaded Lightning club, but once again, Boston’s offense could not bring the B’s back into a contest — with the Bruins only tallying 16 goals over their past 10 games. With Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak generating most of the scoring chances for the B’s, Boston’s attack is doesn’t have much to offer right now.

McAvoy returns: After a 20-game absence, No. 73 made his anticipated return to the lineup on Thursday, with McAvoy rejoining the club after getting activated off IR hours earlier. The general consensus ahead of puck drop was that McAvoy was nearing a return, but few expected him to jump back into game action right away.

Well, after some initial hiccups, the 20-year-old defenseman looked pretty solid in his return, logging 21:02 TOI and adding a strong presence on the blue line of Boston’s second power-play unit. Still, it’s evident that the rust is there for the defenseman (47.06 Corsi For Percentage, 40.91 Shots For Percentage).

TWO UP

David Pastrnak: Boston’s top line led the way for the B’s in the first stanza, with Pastrnak potting his 20th goal of the season after a good heads-up play by Colby Cave. After picking off a lazy feed from Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh, Cave fed the puck up front to Pastrnak, who gathered the biscuit and fired it past Louis Domingue to open the scoring just 2:04 into the tilt.




Pastrnak, who nearly lit the lamp again before getting stopped by Domingue on a breakaway bid, reached 20 goals in just 28 games.
Jaromir Jagr is the only Czech-born player in NHL history to require fewer games to reach the 20-goal mark.


David Krejci:
Krejci provided the last bit of offense for a largely listless Bruins’ club in the third, blasting one past Domingue at 18:15 with
Tuukka Rask
pulled. It was Krejci’s first goal since Oct. 23 against Ottawa — a span of 19 games. As a whole, Krejci has been productive this season (20 points in 28 games), but the veteran winger only has one five-on-five goal all season.


TWO DOWN


Krug/Carlo:
Boston’s top D-pairing didn’t do itself any favors off of this sequence, which resulted in
Mathieu Joseph
’s tally early on in the third. After Carlo lost the puck while trying to break out of the D zone,
Alex Killorn
fed the puck through Krug’s legs and to Joseph, who beat Rask five-hole for the score.




It was a rough go for Boston’s blue line, especially Carlo — who was fantastic through the first two periods of play (1
4:55 TOI, 65.38 CF% at 5v5).


Power play:
After operating at a 33 percent success rate over a three-game stretch from Nov. 23-26, Boston’s man advantage continues to slide — with Boston only cashing in on one of its last  12 bids. While the B’s at least managed to fire four shots on goal in four minutes of 5-on-4 play, a misplay by Pastrnak and
Brad Marchand
allowed
Anthony Cirelli
to pot a shorthanded goal. With secondary scoring drying up and now the power play struggling, Boston doesn’t have much to turn to in terms of offense.




PLAY OF THE GAME:




LOOKING AHEAD


The road doesn’t get any easier for the Bruins, who return to TD Garden on Saturday for a matchup against the Maple Leafs, who just added
William Nylander
to an already stout forward corps. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.


PARTING THOUGHT


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