BSJ Game Report: Oilers 5, Bruins 3 - B’s cough up 3 leads in frustrating defeat

Everything you need to know from the Bruins’ 5-3 loss to the Oilers with BSJ insight and analysis:

Box Score

SHORT SHIFT

The good news? The Bruins held Connor McDavid to just a solitary point on Thursday night.

The bad news? Eight other Oilers skaters etched their name on the scoresheet — as the B’s relinquished the lead on three separate occasions in what was a frustrating 5-3 loss at TD Garden. 

Despite Boston’s efforts at keeping the NHL’s top player in check, the B’s were done in by several self-inflicted miscues — with Bruce Cassidy bemoaning his club’s inability to build a lead and give itself some breathing room.

“Everybody makes mistakes. But these ones really impacted the game,” Cassidy said. “Some of the mistakes we made are just… lack of focus.”

David Pastrnak, Brad Marchand and Brandon Carlo all scored for the Bruins, who drop to 6-5-0 on the season. Linus Ullmark surrendered five goals on just 28 shots. 

The first 30 minutes of play saw Boston struggle with withstanding some Edmonton counter-attacks, with the B’s only holding a lead for a combined 1:08 of ice time despite lighting the lamp twice. 

Just 44 seconds after Pastrnak beat Mikko Koskinen on the rush 4:45 into regulation, Edmonton founds the equalizer — with a D-zone breakdown allowing blueliner Evan Bouchard to stroll down the ice and snap the puck past Ullmark to knot things up.

It was a similar script in the second, with Zach Hyman tying things up again just 24 seconds after Marchand temporarily gave Boston the lead once more. 

Carlo’s long-distance blast put Boston ahead once more at 17:14 in the second, with Boston holding onto this lead for a whopping 9:08 before a brutal turnover from Carlo led to a tying tally from Leon Draisaitl in the final frame. 

A little over three minutes later, Draisaitl gave Edmonton the lead for good — taking advantage of another fault in Boston’s defensive structure and firing another offering past Ullmark to make it a 4-3 game. Cody Ceci ended the scoring at 17:41 in the third — capping off an ugly, frustrating night for a Bruins team that has yet to string together a full 60-minute effort. 

THREE UP

Bergeron Line: Even with a brutal stretch of overpassing in the third, the Bruins’ big guns at least made a dent in the scoresheet — with Pastrnak tallying his second even-strength goal in his last three games, while Patrice Bergeron is also now up to eight points (five goals, three assists) in his last four games.

Penalty kill: Considering that Edmonton entered tonight’s game with a 46.9% success rate on the power play — the Bruins will certainly take a perfect 2-for-2 night on the penalty kill. A shame it didn’t translate to 5v5 play.  

Nosek Line: Boston’s checking unit at least carried out its job when it came to stymying the Oilers’ big guns and landing some welts against the competition — with Boston holding a 1-0 lead in shots on goal during the 6:52 of 5v5 ice time in which Nosek was matched up with McDavid.

THREE DOWN

Haula Line: Just a dreadful showing from Boston’s reshuffled third line of Jake DeBrusk, Erik Haula and Craig Smith — with that bottom-six grouping plagued by ugly defensive lapses and not much in terms of tangible chances in the O-zone. In their 6:24 of 5v5 ice time, the Bruins surrendered two 5v5 goals and were out-shot, 9-2. 

Power play: Another frustrating night on the man advantage for Boston — with the B’s generating just one high-danger scoring chance in what was an 0-for-3 night. Again, not enough shot volume against a pretty weak netminder. 

Brandon Carlo: Postgame, Brandon Carlo said that the third period was “one of the worst ones I’ve had in my NHL career.” That sounds about right. Carlo was far from the only B’s player that deserves to be knocked for his D-zone play on Thursday, but those two goals surrendered to Draisaitl were brutal.

LOOSE PUCKS

Response goals plaguing this team 

In some respects, this game would be more palatable had McDavid just went off and tallied a hat trick against the B’s. 

But this was a winnable game for the Bruins — who have labored all season when it comes to preserving leads and steeling themselves for the expected counters that come after lighting the lamp. 

In 11 games this season, the Bruins have coughed up EIGHT goals within five minutes of them scoring. Considering Boston’s scoring woes this season, that simply can’t happen. This club desperately needs to give itself some breathing room. 

Secondary-scoring woes continue

That dreadful D-zone play and unforced errors might steal most of the headlines after a game like this, but the Bruins’ secondary-scoring issues shouldn’t be able to skirt by. 

As much as the Bruins haven’t been helped by this stop-and-go start to the season, the club has still played 11 games at this point. And during that pretty extended sample size, Erik Haula and Craig Smith (limited to eight games) have zero goals and just one point — and DeBrusk has two tallies with zero helpers.

At this point, they’ve shaken off all the rust they’ve needed. It’s time to start producing. 

B’s, Oilers honor Colby Cave

A touching moment ahead of puck drop — as the Bruins and Oilers honored the life of former Boston/Edmonton forward Colby Cave, who passed away in April 2020 at the age of 25 from a brain bleed. 

Following a video tribute, Cave's widow, Emily, took part in the ceremonial puck drop and later exchanged hugs with a number of Bruins and Oilers players.  The Boston Bruins Foundation will auction off both teams' game-used sticks, with the proceeds benefiting the Colby Cave Memorial Fund, which is dedicated to community initiatives in both Boston and Providence. The 50/50 raffle from Thursday's game will also benefit the fund.

PLAY OF THE GAME

PARTING THOUGHT

QUOTE OF NOTE

“We absolutely beat ourselves. 100 percent.” - Bruce Cassidy

LOOKING AHEAD

The Bruins will take part in a back-to-back slate this weekend — starting on Saturday with a road matchup against the New Jersey Devils. Puck drop is set for 1 p.m.