BSJ Game Report: Stars 6, Bruins 1 - B’s put together no-show in Dallas

Everything you need to know from the Bruins’ 6-1 loss to the Stars, complete with BSJ insight and analysis:

Box Score

SHORT SHIFT

The Bruins ended their three-game road trip on a sour note — relinquishing five straight goals in what was an ugly 6-1 loss to the Dallas Stars on Sunday night. 

Linus Ullmark — starting in his third consecutive game — was chased from the contest after giving up four goals on 17 shots, with Jeremy Swayman stepping in for the remainder of the night. 

His night might have ended early, but Ullmark’s showing was, by and large, a byproduct of an out-of-sync defensive unit in front of him. 

Craig Smith scored the lone goal of the night for the Bruins, who fall to 25-14-3 on the season.

The opening 20 minutes saw the B’s get burned by both bad breaks and brain farts — with an unlucky bounce off of Urho Vaakanainen’s stick giving Tyler Seguin an easy tap-in tally just 6:54 into the game.  A total defensive debacle — made worse by a poor line change from Oskar Steen — sprung Alex Radulov for a breakaway goal, doubling the home club’s lead at 15:23. 

The second period wasn’t much better for the B’s — with the Stars beating Ullmark twice in the span of 1:08 to knock him out of the contest at 7:39 in the frame. 

Roope Hintz padded Dallas’ lead with a power-play tally at 4:55 in the third, with Smith scoring less than a minute later — ensuring that the B’s would at least not get shut out on an otherwise miserable night down in Dallas.

ONE UP

Craig Smith: Not a lot of positives to draw from this one, but at least Smith was able to get back on the scoresheet. His third-period goal in garbage time was his first tally in seven games. 

FOUR DOWN

Bergeron line: While reuniting the 63-37-88 line is usually a sound strategy when it comes to guaranteeing O-zone production, such wasn't the case on Sunday. Zero high-danger looks, and just three total scoring chances in their 9:13 of 5v5 ice time. 

Charlie McAvoy: A rough game for McAvoy (and most of Boston’s D corps), with the B’s star blueliner getting caught up high on the sequence that led to Seguin’s opening goal. This upcoming week-long break should be good for McAvoy, who hasn’t been right for the last little while due to a nagging injury.

Reilly-Forbort pairing: We don’t usually see these two paired together out on the ice, and Sunday was a good example of why that might be the case. In their 12:46 of 5v5 ice time, the Bruins were outscored, 2-0. 

Linus Ullmark: The defense in front of him was worse, but it’s not as though Ullmark was particularly sharp, either. With Tuukka Rask’s status still up in the air due to an injury, the B’s goalie situation is essentially a mess right now.

Loose Pucks

Erik Haula enters COVID protocol

In what has become a predictable development so far this season, the Bruins lost another player in the midst of a solid stretch due to COVID testing — with the club announcing ahead of Sunday’s game that Erik Haula landed on the shelf.

For as much as we talk about the Bruins’ defensive shortcomings as of late (and they’ve been absolutely warranted), it’s a bit concerning that losing a guy like Haula completely threw Boston’s forward corps out of whack — with a Hall-Coyle-Smith line unable to string much of anything together. Add in an off-night for the reunited Bergeron line, and Boston had next to nothing up front for most of the night. 

PLAY OF THE GAME

QUOTE OF NOTE

"We gotta be harder back there. it starts in your backend. You gotta execute at an NHL level." - Bruce Cassidy

PARTING THOUGHTS

LOOKING AHEAD

The Bruins will now head back home and welcome the NHL’s 32nd franchise to TD Garden — with the B’s set to host the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday night. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.