Last-minute blunder just tip of iceberg in a frustrating night for Bruins in Arizona

When it came to doling out blame for the Bruins’ first loss to the Coyotes in 12 years, Patrice Bergeron wasn’t going to take the easy route and point the finger at the officials.

Given how steamed the Bruins were on the ice in the seconds after Lawson Crouse snapped home Arizona’s go-ahead goal with just 14 seconds in regulation, it was evident what the root of Boston’s frustrations was. 

“We thought it should have been icing,” Jim Montgomery noted postgame.

Such a sentiment stands as the only way to justify Boston’s laissez-faire approach in the waning seconds of Friday’s road tilt at Mullett Arena — with no icing call giving the ‘Yotes the perfect opportunity to strike.

With the Bruins caught off guard due to the lack of a whistle (a curious development, considering the puck did slide through the crease), Derek Forbort subsequently fumbled the biscuit — allowing Matias Maccelli to recover down low and set up Crouse for a quick shot past Jeremy Swayman.

It was an ugly way for the Bruins to fall to the Coyotes for the first time since Oct. 9, 2010 — especially on a bang-bang play that required all of us to delve back into the NHL rulebook for clarity. 

But it was a loss in which Bergeron opted to look inward at the play of his own team, rather than the calls made out on the ice. 

"It happens fast. I think there's there's a debate for icing there. But then the linesman is there to make a decision that's based on a fraction of a second,” Bergeron said. “So we got to keep playing — bottom line. You can't just point fingers and blame it on decisions — because I think that's the last thing you want to do. I think for us as a team, we got to own it and be better next game.”

Losing on a last-minute goal is always a tough pill to swallow, especially for a 21-4-1 Bruins squad who has carved and hewn through many Cup contenders en route to their sterling start — only to lose to a rudderless Arizona club playing in a 5,000-seat college venue. 

But that final breakdown stood as the final cherry on top of a melted sundae for the Bruins in the Arizona desert, with multiple other failings earlier in the night setting up for such a disheartening end. 

All things considered, the Bruins could have directed most of their frustration toward Coyotes' netminder Karel Vejmelka, who was the determining factor in Friday’s final result — not that skittering puck. 

While Montgomery did note that his club could have been a bit quicker when it came to firing off pucks against Vejmelka, it also wasn’t like the Bruins were settling for volley after volley of low-danger shots from the blue line, with Boston ultimately ending the night with a 46-16 edge in shots on goal, including a 22-9 advantage in high-danger scoring chances during 5v5 play. 

“Shot quality was pretty good too,” Montgomery said. “I don't know exactly, I think we had like 15 chances in the second. Their goalie played well, but the puck was rolling a little bit, so we couldn't shoot pucks quicker. We need to shoot pucks quicker.”

Sure, the Bruins could have made that high-danger output even more lopsided had they strung together a few more O-zone shifts where they didn’t settle for fly-bys or one-time opportunities. But Friday had all of the makings of a game where you need to tip your cap to the opposing goalie.

Unfortunately, the same can’t be said down the other end of the ice with Jeremy Swayman — who has been one of the few B’s regulars who has yet to settle into a groove so far this season.

A lower-body ailment that put him on the shelf for two-plus weeks hasn’t helped Swayman get into a rhythm, but the 24-year-old netminder has still left a lot to be desired when it comes to building off some of the promise he showed over his last two years up in the NHL ranks.

After relinquishing four goals on just 16 shots Friday, Swayman is now 5-3-1 with a .887 save percentage through 10 games (eight starts) — with his goals saved above average rate of -1.77 during even-strength play ranking 40th among the 61 netminders who have logged at least 300 minutes of ice time this season.

Linus Ullmark’s strong start between the pipes has kept Boston’s goaltending situation afloat in 2022-23, but the Bruins are going to need Swayman to tighten things up in order to avoid taxing Ullmark through the dog days of the regular season.

Of course, as frustrating as Friday’s contest was, we’re not going to hit the button for DEFCON 1 off of just one loss to a cellar-dwelling team.

Swayman’s .872 save percentage against high-danger shots (sixth among that pool of 61 goalies) offers some evidence that he can shake out the cobwebs in his game. And let’s face it, some very good Bruins teams over the last few years were constantly tormented by tomato cans like the Red Wings and Devils.

For Montgomery and his team, the easiest way to put Friday in the rearview is ensuring that this roster doesn’t suffer consecutive losses for the first time all season — a daunting challenge, considering that Bruce Cassidy and the Golden Knights await them once again on Sunday. 

"It's gonna happen during the year where you lose games,” Montgomery said. “We've won a couple where the puck bounced our way. Tonight the puck didn't bounce our way. Their goalie played great. I loved our effort. And I love the fact that we just keep playing through, no matter what happens.”