BSJ Game Report: Avalanche 4, Bruins 2 - Costly miscues, video reviews trip up B’s on final leg of road trip

Everything you need to know from the Bruins’ 4-2 loss to the Avalanche in quickie form, with BSJ insight and analysis…

Box Score 

HEADLINES:

A disappointing end to a very promising road trip

In the immediate aftermath, it can be tough to take any positives out of Thursday’s 4-2 loss to the Avalanche — Boston’s first defeat of the 2019-20 campaign.

After all, the Bruins very well could have been in control of the contest with a two-goal lead just minutes into the third period, if not for those pesky video reviews (we’ll get to those later).

But even with the final result on the scoreboard — and the same obvious flaws still sprouting up on the ice — the B’s have to be content with the final results of their four-game road trip to open the season.

Taking six of a possible eight points on the road against a tough field that includes the Avalanche, Golden Knights and Stars is still a strong showing from this club, especially with all of the talk of a Stanley Cup “hangover” to open the year.

Boston still has plenty of work to do, especially when it comes to both the second and third lines (once again), but a return to the friendly confines of TD Garden should allow the B’s to refocus and once again hit the ground running — starting off with a slumping Devils club.

Fourth line does its part:

They may not have ended up on the scoresheet, but the reunited fourth line of Sean Kuraly, Chris Wagner and Joakim Nordstrom played a major role in keeping a high-powered Avs offense in check for most of the night.

While the Bergeron line drew plenty of minutes against Colorado’s potent top trio of Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and Gabriel Landeskog — Boston’s fourth line also found itself on the ice multiple times against Colorado's big guns. 

But behind a physical forecheck and stingy play in the neutral zone, the Nordstrom-Kuraly-Wagner line



did not budge against MacKinnon and Co. In fact, in the five-plus minutes of 5v5 TOI in which Nordstrom and Co. faced off against MacKinnon, Boston held a 4-0 edge in scoring chances. 

Neutralizing that Colorado unit while giving Boston’s top line more minutes against lesser competition proved vital in the first period, as David Pastrnak’s tally came against Nazem Kadri’s group — a mismatch that the Bruins were able to exploit. 

The Bergeron line can often do it all out on the ice, but when the fourth line is engaged and eating up minutes against top-six opponents, it makes that B’s top trio even more effective. 

Video review strikes again!

*Shakes fist angrily*

Videoooo reviewwwwwww!!!!

Yes, the Bruins could have been up, 4-2, in the early minutes of the third period off of tallies from Jake DeBrusk and Karson Kuhlman, but you can’t knock the Avalanche for making use of video review to overturn a pair of goals for the B’s. 

The goaltender interference call against David Krejci that eliminated Kuhlman’s goal in the second was pretty iffy, but the case could have been made that Krejci’s skate was preventing Philipp Grubauer from getting in proper position for Kuhlman’s snipe. 

Not much you could do about the offside call that disallowed DeBrusk’s power-play tally, as Pastrnak was indeed over the blue line leading up to the scoring chance. You can still complain about how an offside call can negate a goal like that, but it won’t do you much good.

On to the next one. 

THREE UP:

Zdeno Chara: Who would have guessed that Chara would light the lamp before the likes of Bergeron, Krejci, DeBrusk and many more this season? Remarkably, Chara (42 years, 5 months, 7 days) is only the third-oldest Bruin to score a regular-season goal. Mark Recchi (43 years old) & Johnny Bucyk (42 years, 9 months, 13 days) have him beat in that category. 

https://twitter.com/ConorRyan_93/status/1182470950866034688

David Pastrnak: While the Bergeron line can’t be absolved for a couple of miscues down the other end of the ice, Pastrnak was once again dynamic in the O-zone — scoring his second goal of the season while adding an assist on Chara’s blast. He also could have recorded an assist on DeBrusk’s power-play goal, but it was negated by the offside call against him. 

Jaroslav Halak: Hard to fault Halak for this one, as Boston’s netminder turned aside 32 of the 35 shots that came his way against an Avs offense that can pile on goals in a hurry. 

THREE DOWN:

Brad Marchand: He might have recorded the primary helper on Pastrnak’s goal in the first, but Marchand was still tagged with a costly turnover — as his outlet pass in the second period was picked off by Matt Calvert and resulted in a game-tying strike from Pierre-Edouard Bellemare at 9:43 in the middle stanza. 

Krejci Line: They might have almost tallied a goal from Kuhlman that was disallowed, but Boston’s second line is still struggling when it comes to generating sustained O-zone time this season. In 10:40 of 5v5 TOI, the Krejci line was only able to generate two scoring chances and zero high-danger looks — while the Avs compiled five high-danger looks down the other end of the ice. A misplayed puck by DeBrusk after an O-zone faceoff win also started the sequence that led to Andre Burakovsky’s eventual game winner at 12:54 in the third. 

Coyle Line: A return to the third line for David Backes did NOT work out too well for Charlie Coyle and Co., as the Avalanche held an 11-5 edge in shot attempts when that line was deployed on Thursday. 

PLAY OF THE GAME: 

What a shame that offsides call took away this beauty of a goal from DeBrusk in the third period. 

https://twitter.com/emarinofsky/status/1182492318819082245

PARTING THOUGHT: 

Nordstrom making the little plays that can make the difference between two points and a goose egg in the standings. He’s been missed. 

https://twitter.com/ConorRyan_93/status/1182481450790281216

LOOKING AHEAD: After wrapping up a four-game road trip, the Bruins will return home — with Boston set to host the New Jersey Devils on Saturday night at TD Garden. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.