BSJ Game Report: Avalanche 4, Bruins 3 (OT) - B’s let two points slip away

Everything you need to know from the Bruins’ 4-3 overtime loss to the Avalanche, complete with BSJ insight and analysis: 

Box Score

SHORT SHIFT

The Bruins let what would have been arguably their statement win of the season slip through their fingers on Wednesday — relinquishing a 3-1 lead to the Avalanche before eventually falling in overtime, 4-3, at Ball Arena. 

With Boston clinging to a one-goal margin in the final minute of play, the Avs capitalized with Darcy Kuemper pulled from the net — with Gabriel Landeskog lighting the lamp with just 36 seconds left to push the game into overtime. Cale Makar ended things at 3:01 in the extra frame, shortly after a Mike Reilly penalty gave Colorado an extra skater.

Jake DeBrusk, Charlie Coyle and Brad Marchand all scored for the Bruins, who fall to 24-13-3 on the season. Linus Ullmark stopped 37 of the 41 shots that came his way in the loss.

An unfortunate collision between Nathan MacKinnon and Taylor Hall just 2:02 into regulation set the tone for the rest of the night. A clean hit from the B’s winger sent the Avs star to the ice, with MacKinnon’s own stick doing the damage on the bang-bang play.

A bloodied MacKinnon eventually got up but exited the game for good — prompting the Avs to try and pummel Hall for the rest of the night. 

Despite a pretty strong road period to open Wednesday’s contest, the Bruins still found themselves trailing after the opening 20 minutes, with Kurtis MacDermid beating Ullmark on the Avs’ second shot of the game.

The middle frame was a different story, however — as DeBrusk got Boston on the board at 7:10 with a snipe while on the rush.

After DeBrusk drew a tripping penalty just minutes later, the Avs’ efforts to knock around Hall blew up in their face — with Erik Johnson cross-checking Hall four times right in front of an official to give Boston a 5-on-3 bid.

Sure enough, the B’s capitalized. Coyle flipped a puck past Kuemper to put Boston ahead at 12:16, while Marchand picked the corner with a wrist-shot snipe just seconds after Johnson’s penalty expired to give the B’s a two-goal cushion. 

But Boston took its foot off the gas in the final frame. And, of course, the Avs eventually made them pay. Over the final 12 minutes of Wednesday’s tilt, Colorado outshot Boston, 11-2 — with Samuel Girard and Landeskog giving the home team new life before Makar delivered the dagger.

TWO UP

Linus Ullmark: In a third period where the Avs by and large walked all over the Bruins, it was only the play of Ullmark that ensured that the B’s would escape with at least a point. Can’t pin the loss on him. 

Jake DeBrusk: DeBrusk’s continued resurgence has been a major lift for the Bruins. With his second-period snipe, DeBrusk is now up to four points (two goals, two assists) in his last four games. Not only is DeBrusk stringing together strong performances and adding some scoring pop from the bottom-six unit, but his trade value has continued to rise over the last few weeks.

THREE DOWN

Brandon Carlo: Starting to become very concerning that Carlo keeps ending up on this list. Once again, the B’s stay-at-home skater was knocked for a number of D-zone miscues, including a brutal turnover that nearly led to an easy tally for Andre Burakovsky. Carlo needs to be much, much better. 

Mike Reilly: It’s been a pretty rough few games for Reilly since returning from COVID protocols, with the Avs’ fleet-footed skaters taking advantage of some of the gaps that Reilly was giving them. Add in that tripping call in OT that pretty much sealed the deal, and this was a game to forget.

Brad Marchand: Yes, he had a snipe of a shot in the second period — but Marchand (like most of the Bruins) had a pretty rough sequence over that frantic final minute of regulation, including a pass into the middle of the ice instead of a straight clear — and getting caught looking on Landeskog’s one-time equalizer.  

PLAY OF THE GAME: What a shot from Marchand.

QUOTE OF NOTE

“You gotta keep playing. We're usually pretty good at that. We didn't get it done and we paid the price." - Bruce Cassidy

PARTING THOUGHTS

LOOKING AHEAD

The Bruins will continue their road trip with a matchup against the cellar-dwelling Coyotes on Friday. Puck drop is set for 9 p.m.