Everything you need to know from the Bruins’ 7-5 loss to the Senators, with BSJ insight and analysis:
HEADLINES
B’s can’t keep up in shootout: Even in the immediate aftermath of Boston’s impressive home victory over the Panthers on Monday night, Jim Montgomery was already fixated on the next task at hand.
A bout against the reigning Presidents’ Trophy winners was always going to be a tough test, but the real endeavor might have been the following night — with the B’s needing to go up to Ottawa and battle a motivated Senators team looking to right the ship following an 0-2-0 start to the new season.
And sure enough, Montgomery’s fears were realized in what ended up being a barnburner up at Candian Tire Centre, as a tired and shorthanded B’s roster was ultimately dealt its first loss of the season by way of a 7-5 final.
The Bruins do deserve some stick taps for battling back and making what was looking like an embarrassing blowout into a somewhat competitive bout — turning what was a 3-0 deficit into a 3-3 deadlock early in the second period, only to then relinquish another three goals in under five minutes to make it a 6-3 contest.
Goals from Nick Foligno and David Pastrnak once again made things close in the final minutes of the second, but Artem Zub drove the final nail into the coffin with a goal at 9:58 in the third to ice this one.
Pastrnak and Patrice Bergeron both recorded three points apiece in the loss, while Jake DeBrusk added a pair of helpers.
Shorthanded defense shows cracks: Yes, the Bruins might have been on the second leg of a back-to-back slate. And yes, Jeremy Swayman was nowhere near at his best in this one. But let’s face it, the Bruins could have easily escaped with two points had their defense not completely imploded for a majority of Tuesday’s contest.
After playing with fire throughout the first three games of the 2022-23 season, the Bruins blueliners were finally burned in this one, with Boston coughing up 14 high-danger scoring chances in 44:39 of 5v5 ice time.
Boston might have had tired legs, but Tuesday was a prime example of some of the challenges that await as the B’s try to stay afloat with Charlie McAvoy, Matt Grzelcyk and Brandon Carlo still on the mend.
It’s good that the Bruins are averaging over five goals scored per game so far this season, because they might need to keep a similar output going for the next four or five weeks.
THREE UP
Patrice Bergeron: Bergeron is once again moving up in the record books after his first-period tally. With his strike at 17:00 in the opening frame, Bergeron surpassed Rick Middleton in career goals (403) and sits alone in third place for most tallies in franchise history. The only two B’s legends in front of Bergeron? Phil Esposito (459) and Johnny Bucyk (545).
A.J. Greer: Greer’s strong start continued on Tuesday, with the B’s winger snapping a puck past Anton Forsberg for his third goal in four games with Boston. Fair to say, Greer has already exceeded most expectations this season, considering that he scored just two goals in his previous six seasons of pro experience, including 47 games between the Avalanche and Devils.
Nick Foligno: Greer might be leading the charge when it comes to bottom-six stalwarts who are making good on a clean slate this season, but Foligno is right behind him. With his second-period tally, Foligno has now equaled his goal total from last season (two) in just four games — a sizable improvement from the 64 games he logged in 2021-22.
THREE DOWN
Jeremy Swayman: Yes, the B’s defense was dreadful in this one, but Swayman could have kept momentum back on Boston’s side with a timely save or two — especially in that opening period when he was coughing up a few softies. Before getting pulled for Ullmark in the third period, Swayman gave up six goals on 25 Sens shots.
Defense: Much like how we painted the B’s D corps with a broad brush following Monday’s win over the Panthers, we’ll do the same thing tonight — except tag just about everyone on Boston’s blue line for a number of brutal miscues and D-zone infractions. Even though Swayman was far from sharp in this one, the Sens were handed Grade-A chance after Grade-A chance, with failed pinches (Forbort), avoiding contact (Zboril), costly turnovers (Stralman) and missed reads (Reilly and Clifton) making things miserable in Boston’s own end of the ice.
Taylor Hall: On a night where a lot of Boston’s top-six regulars made a sizable impact in the offensive zone, Hall struggled to gain a lot of traction — landing zero shots on goal while only logging 11:55 of ice time.
PLAY OF THE GAME
The Cap is all-time. pic.twitter.com/9DnZIKI1Un
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) October 19, 2022
LOOKING AHEAD
The Bruins will look to start fresh on Thursday when they return to TD Garden and host the Ducks. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.