BSJ Game Report: Bruins 3, Kraken 2 (OT) - DeBrusk lifts sleepy Bruins past Seattle

Everything you need to know from the Bruins’ 3-2 overtime win over the Kraken, with BSJ insight and analysis:

Box Score

HEADLINES 

DeBrusk saves the day 

Well, slotting Jake DeBrusk up to the top line with Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand didn’t necessarily have the intended effect, with the trio out for zero goals scored and zero against (although we’ll get to those line changes in a minute). 

But even without necessarily meshing with 63+37, DeBrusk didn’t cool down from his recent heater, with the winger burying two goals — including the game-winner in overtime — to lift the Bruins to a 3-2 win over the Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena. 

With less than a month to go until the trade deadline, DeBrusk is heating up at the perfect time for the Bruins, who are still trying to satisfy his trade request that went public all the way back in late November. 

Granted, his extended stay in Boston has been the byproduct of some factors outside of his control, such as the Bruins’ COVID outbreak in December, Brad Marchand’s suspension and a whole lot more. 

But with crunch time soon approaching when it comes to giving DeBrusk a fresh start somewhere else, the results are starting to pile up for a player that’s raising his stock at just the right time.

Sleepy in Seattle

DeBrusk’s strong play not only is good news for the Bruins when it comes to raising the value on a pretty obvious trade piece. It also allowed the Bruins to save face and leave Seattle with two points on a night in which they didn’t necessarily deserve it.

Be it Boston failing to bury Seattle in the early going after the Kraken took a pair of penalties (one of which was a double-minor) less than two minutes into the game, multiple UGLY line changes that led to Grade-A goals or a sluggish third period when the Bruins should have easily broken a 2-2 stalemate, this was far from the start that Boston likely wanted on this six-game road trip. 

TWO UP

Jake DeBrusk: The hero on the night for the Bruins — helping to save his club from a pretty embarrassing loss. His stock is continuing to soar with less than a month to go until the trade deadline. 

David Pastrnak: After going through an ugly stretch in which he was neither scoring nor getting it done down the other end of the ice, Pastrnak is at least waking up on the O-zone. The B’s top right winger now has four goals in his last three games after rifling home his 28th of the season on Thursday. He ended the night with 11 total shot attempts.

TWO DOWN

Line Changes: I mean, just a couple of dreadful sequences that led to some gift goals for a pretty listless team in the Kraken. Don’t know what Marchand was doing here on Giordano’s shorthanded tally. Just ugly miscues that shouldn’t be happening, even against a team like the Kraken. 

Power play: While the return of Marchand was supposed to solve the tough sledding that Boston’s power play trudged through when he was on the shelf, it sure didn’t yield positive results on Thursday. Boston went 0-for-5 on the night on the man advantage, and could have landed a knockout punch if it cashed in on its 5-on-3 look and extended 5v4 stretch in the early going. 

PLAY OF THE GAME

LOOSE PUCKS

Gotta say, with so many other networks sending their broadcast crews back on the road by this point, it’s a complete embarrassment that NESN hasn’t stepped up and taken these two out of that Watertown office. 

Considering the market and the amount of revenue NESN brings in, it’s an ugly look and a disservice to viewers — especially when stuff like this happens. 

LOOKING AHEAD

The Bruins will continue their six-game road trip on Saturday with a matchup against Tomas Hertl and the San Jose Sharks. Puck drop is set for 10 p.m. EST.