BSJ Game Report: Penguins 4, Bruins 1 - Stagnant offense, leaky defense lead to brutal result against Pittsburgh

Everything you need to know from the Bruins’ 4-1 loss to the Penguins in quickie form, with BSJ insight and analysis:

Box Score

HEADLINES

Well, what was worse in this one?

Another anemic offensive effort from all guys not named Bergeron and Marchand?

Or, in what has been a concerning trend for the last week or so, another brutal defensive showing from Boston's crop of young blueliners — which put Dan Vladar on the ropes from most of the evening?

Whichever option you pick, it made for an all-around miserable night at TD Garden, as Boston was bested down both ends of the ice in what was ultimately a 4-1 loss to Pittsburgh on Thursday night.

Even though neither club managed to get on the scoresheet in the opening 20 minutes of play, the Penguins spent most of that first period cycling in Boston's zone, with the B's only managed to land two shots on goal against netminder Casey DeSmith.

That lopsided time spent defending ultimately caught up to the B's, as the Penguins eventually beat Vladar on the rush at 2:01 in the second, with Zach Aston-Reese knocking one home to put the visitors on the board. A much more egregious sequence allowed the Penguins to pad their lead for good — with feared offensive dynamo Mike Matheson (a stay-at-home blueliner with 35 career goals) doing his best Orr impression as he blew past Jeremy Lauzon and tucked one past Vladar to make it a 2-0 game at 13:12 in the second.

Brad Marchand gave the Bruins life with his 14th goal of the season at 11:14 in the third period, but any potential momentum was snuffed out by a brutal turnover by David Pastrnak — with a careless miscue in the neutral zone leading to a Jason Zucker tally less than two minutes after Marchand's goal, sealing Boston's fate. Jake Guentzel added an empty-net goal at 17:51 to close out the win for the Penguins, who last won a game at TD Garden way back on Nov. 24, 2014.

Bruins lose Brandon Carlo to injury

To add injury to Thursday's insulting showing, an already slumping D corps lost one of its few stout bodies in the top-four, as Brandon Carlo did not return to the game after the opening period of play due to an upper-body injury.

Postgame, Bruce Cassidy didn't have much of an update on the dependable blueliner. "Left, didn't come back," Cassidy said. "That's never a good sign."

Even if Boston's youngsters on defense weren't severely laboring, losing Carlo for any additional time would still obviously be a severe blow to this defense, given Carlo's knack of snuffing out scoring plays near the netfront and anchoring the penalty kill. Carlo had missed 10 games in a row last month after getting severely concussed by Washington's Tom Wilson, with Thursday standing as just his second game back on the ice after an extended layoff.

TWO UP

Dan Vladar: He might have relinquished three goals on 23 shots, but that .864 save percentage didn't tell the whole story of a young goalie who was regularly left out to dry by a horrid defense in front of him. This easily could have been a 6-1 blowout if Vladar didn't turn aside some Grade-A looks, breakaways and flurries in the opening 30 minutes of play.

Brad Marchand: Just as he did on Tuesday against the Devils, Marchand gave his club a spark when they seemed to be sleepwalking in the offensive zone – taking a feed from Bergeron and roofing it past DeSmith at 11:14 in the third period, cutting Boston's deficit to one at the time. A welcome development, for sure — but one that was immediately undercut by a Penguins tally less than two minutes later.

THREE DOWN

Jeremy Lauzon: I mean, the video speaks for itself, right? It's been a brutal couple of games for Lauzon, whose miscues on Tuesday directly led to a pair of Devils goals. But letting a defensive defenseman like Matheson walk you like this? Sheesh. That's bad.

https://twitter.com/dafoomie/status/1377780138671226885

Connor Clifton: Lauzon has drawn most of the criticism on the blue line as of late, but Clifton has also severely labored as well as a depth option. Not only did his failed read lead to a breakaway chance for Zucker that was stopped by Vladar, he also let a couple of quality looks generate in front of Vladar while trying to scrap with a helmet-less Brandon Tanev in the final seconds of the second. Just not smart hockey.

David Pastrnak: Not only has he not been generating much of anything on offense lately (one point in last five games / one even-strength goal in last 13 games), but Pastrnak has been totally disengaged down the other end of the ice as well. That lazy neutral-zone turnover just can't happen, not at that point of the game, especially.

PLAY OF THE GAME

Well, this was a solid hit at least.

https://twitter.com/ConorRyan_93/status/1377777435295485952

PARTING THOUGHTS

https://twitter.com/ConorRyan_93/status/1351324997030195205

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Well, this gentleman might have summed things up the best.

https://twitter.com/ConorRyan_93/status/1377798124362686471

LOOKING AHEAD

The Bruins will continue their homestand on Saturday with a matinee matchup against the Penguins. Puck drop is set for 1 p.m.