Everything you need to know from the Bruins’ 5-3 loss against the Hurricanes in quickie form, with BSJ insight and analysis:
BOX SCORE
HEADLINES
B’s start strong, fizzle out: Riding a three-game win streak and lifted by the return of Patrice Bergeron to the lineup, the B’s seemed primed to take care of business on the road Sunday — building a 2-0 lead through the first 8:56 of regulation off of tallies from Ryan Donato and Steven Kampfer.
What followed? Well. Largely hemmed into their own zone for most of the second period, Boston saw its lead slip away — with Carolina tallying four unanswered goals in the span of 15:17.
During a second period that saw Boston surrender the lead for good, Carolina held the edge in 5v5 attempts (27-13), 5v5 shots on goal (14-7) and 5v5 scoring chances (14-6).
After beating the Canadiens, Ducks and Predators by a 12-3 margin over the past week, this was a tough pill to swallow for the B’s — who now enter the holiday break with a loss that will linger.
Miscues on power play prove costly
After tallying a pair of power-play goals in back-to-back contests, it appeared as though Boston’s proficiency on the man advantage was rounding back into form. And while Donato scored on the power play (off a gift) at 2:40 in the first, the B’s largely struggled to generate good looks over the final two periods — while torpedoing their chances of points in the standings off of some brutal mistakes.
After relinquishing 10 shorthanded goals all of last season, the 2018-19 B’s have already surrendered seven this year — including a pair in Sunday’s loss. The first was generated off of an ugly turnover by Charlie McAvoy along the boards, leading to an easy wrister goal for Sebastian Aho from the slot. Then in the third, Carolina capped off its scoring when Tuukka Rask fumbled a puck that he was attempting to play, allowing Teuvo Teravainen to tally one of the easiest goals he’ll ever score at 7:20 in the final stanza.
Meanwhile, any chance for the Bruins to claw back into the contest largely went for naught — with Boston landing zero shots on goal during 3:44 of 5v4 play over the second and third periods. Yuck.
TWO UP
Ryan Donato: After getting a tally taken off the board due to a challenge from the Predators on Saturday, Donato made sure his next two attempts counted — lighting the lamp twice during Sunday’s matchup.
The young winger benefited off a puck that bounced off a Carolina skater and past Petr Mrazek at 2:40 in the first period, but his second goal of the night was no joke — with Donato rifling a shot past Mrazek following a strong zone entry by Colby Cave. After an ugly second period, Donato’s second goal started to shift the momentum back to the B’s ahead of the final stanza — although any puck luck went out the window following Rask’s shorthanded fumble.
Steven Kampfer: Don’t let Steven Kampfer get hot. With Zdeno Chara and Kevan Miller set to return to game action very soon, you’d think that Kampfer’s minutes are about to take a major dip. But after getting earning a few games up in the press level earlier this month, the veteran defenseman has rebounded as of late — tallying a pair of goals in the span of five games.
Steven Kampfer fires home his second goal of the season.
Couldn't ask for a better start for the Bruins. pic.twitter.com/NcPfDJkk4N
— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) December 23, 2018
Less than ideal.
5-3 game. pic.twitter.com/4CWVdtMDKM
— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) December 24, 2018
Not stopping that.
Ryan Donato snipes home his second of the night.
4-3 game. pic.twitter.com/H6X81DDnQj
— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) December 23, 2018