NEW YORK — Everything you need to know from the Bruins’ 4-3 shootout loss to the Rangers in quickie form, with BSJ insight and analysis...
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HEADLINES
Another lead slips away: Boston might have been on the second leg of a back-to-back slate, but the Bruins' tendency to relinquish leads continues to be a troubling trend following Wednesday's 4-3 shootout loss to New York. The B’s seemed poised for a feel-good win at Madison Square Garden, with a pair of reshuffled lines tallying goals and giving Boston hope of more secondary-scoring production down the road. And then, it quickly became undone in the third period.
A horrid backchecking effort allowed Kevin Hayes to cut the Blueshirts' deficit to one at 9:24 in the third, while a brutal boarding penalty taken by Charlie McAvoy allowed Filip Chytil to tie things up at 12:41 — with the game finally decided in the seventh round of the shootout. Even with the point, Boston is now 6-6-2 against clubs outside of the playoff picture in the Eastern Conference. These points — or lack thereof — are going to haunt this club come late March.
New lines mesh: After a sluggish showing during 5v5 play through the first 30 minutes of regulation, Bruce Cassidy once again put his lines in a blender at Madison Square Garden. The fourth line of Noel Accari, Sean Kuraly and Chris Wagner was the only trio left untouched — as Danton Heinen was placed on the top line with Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak was slotted down to the second line with Peter Cehlarik and David Krejci, while a slumping Jake DeBrusk was demoted to the third line with Joakim Nordstrom and Trent Frederic.
Here’s a look at Boston’s full revised lineup chart:
This latest concoction might have been Cassidy’s most drastic reshuffling yet, but it didn’t take long for the results to manifest. Heinen, making his first appearance since Jan. 31, opened the scoring for Boston at 10:37 — tipping a point blast from
Matt Grzelcyk
past
Alexander Georgiev
to tie things up at 1-1.
Just 1:12 later, another revamped Boston line struck during 5v5 play, as Krejci fed the biscuit out to Pastrnak down low for the winger’s 31st goal of the season.
It remains to be seen if these lines stick going forward, but if Boston can keep Krejci rolling with a winger like Pastrnak to work with, the secondary-scoring woes that have plagued the B’s all season long suddenly become a bit easier to bear.
TWO UP
New Bergeron Line:
After the Marchand-Bergeron-Pastrnak line posted just a Corsi For Percentage of just 22.22 through 5:15 of 5v5 ice time, Cassidy opted for a switch, slotting up Heinen on the right wing. The flip appeared to work, as the new top line closed out the night with a 66.67 CF%, one goal scored and a 3-1 edge in high-danger chances generated.
Peter Cehlarik:
He might not have recorded a point on the night, but Cehlarik was a force on the boards, using his frame to win puck battles and feed the puck out to Krejci and Pastrnak in the slot or back out to the blue line. Cehlarik jumpstarted the sequence that led to Pastrnak’s goal in the second, beating
Kevin Shattenkirk
in a foot race and coasting the puck back up to
Kevan Miller
— who started the tic-tac-toe sequence that ended with Pastrnak’s 31st goal of the year.
THREE DOWN
Jake DeBrusk:
The Bruins’ promising second-year rookie was handed a demotion down to the Frederic line midway through the second period. DeBrusk still ranks fourth on the B’s in goals with 14 on the year, but he has not lit the lamp in 11 games. He was also out on the ice and part of the brutal backchecking effort that allowed Hayes to waltz into the crease and knock home his goal.
Charlie McAvoy:
Can’t take a boarding penalty like that in a one-goal game. McAvoy’s infraction against
Mika Zibanejad
proved to be costly, as
Filip Chytil
potted one past Halak just 36 seconds later to tie things up.
Trent Frederic:
PLAY OF THE GAME
Highway robbery by Jaroslav Halak on
Mika Zibanejad
in overtime.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Bruins will return home for a three-game homestand — with two of those three games set against opponents currently at the bottom of the Western Conference standings in the Kings and Blackhawks. Boston will return to the ice starting on Saturday with a matinee against L.A. Puck drop is set for 1 p.m.
