All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Bruins' loss to Seattle, with BSJ analysis and insight:
HEADLINES
The Bruins suffered their first home regulation loss of the season with a 3-0 shutout by the streaking Seattle Kraken, winners of seven straight. The B's made it past the halfway mark of the schedule before losing in 60 minutes at TD Garden. The Kraken tallied goals in the first and second, and nothing the Bruins tried in response worked.
Coach Jim Montgomery, never afraid to shuffle his line combinations, mixed things up in the middle period, even reuniting David Pastrnak with linemates Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand, but none of it worked as the Bruins suffered their first shutout of the season. They also had a 14-game point streak (11-0-3) come to an end.
In the third period, a desperate Montgomery lifted goaltender Linus Ullmark with five minutes remaining, hoping that an extra attacker would help jump-start the dormant B's offense. But while the Bruins got sustained zone time out of the gambit, keeping the puck in the Seattle end for several minutes, they couldn't crack Seattle goalie Martin Jones who stopped 27 shots.
Eventually, on a soft clearing attempt, the Kraken notched an empty-net goal from Jaden Schwartz with 1:50 remaining, and that was that. The Bruins had entered the night 19-0-3 on TD Garden ice this season.
Two Massachusetts natives -- former Bruins Ryan Donato and Hingham native Matty Beniers, a Calder Trophy candidate -- were kept off the scoresheet.
THREE UP
PK UNIT: The Kraken had three power-play chances, but the B's penalty-killers killed off each one and minimized the pressure on goalie Linus Ullmark whenever the Bruins were shorthanded.
Brandon Carlo: Boston's stay-at-home defenseman cleared pucks in front of Ullmark and played the kind of stout style that the Bruins would like to see him provide consistently.
Joona Koppanen: Making his NHL debut on the team's fourth line, Koppanen stepped in for faceoffs, replacing the injured Tomas Nosek, and won 5-of-7 draws while also contributing to the PK unit. The rookie didn't look at all out of place.
TWO DOWN
Power Play unit: Seattle is one of the worst teams in the league when the other team has the man advantage, but you wouldn't know it from Thursday night as the Bruins did little in the one power play opportunity they had.
David Pastrnak: The winter has set the bar impossibly high and was coming off a hat trick in his previous game. But even allowing for that, his timing seemed off at times, failing to connect on some one-timer chances and firing wide on others.
LOOSE PUCKS
There was evidence that this was not going to be the Bruins' night fairly early on. The Kraken played at a brisk pace and were on the Bruins' defenders quickly, keeping the B's hemmed in at times. In the first period, the Bruins were limited to just seven shots, an indication of how listless their offensive game was.
Halfway through the game, the ice remained titled in the visitor's favor, as they outshot the B's 21-11. The third period saw Boston come alive a bit offensively, but trailing by two goals, they got caught taking some chances, resulting in a few off-man rushes by the Kraken.
It was as if the B's were saving their energy for the final 20 minutes, only to discover they didn't have enough in the tank when the time came.
UP NEXT
The Bruins still own a mighty comfortable lead in the Atlantic Division, but Saturday represents a chance for the second-place Toronto Maple Leafs to make up a little ground in the standings. The puck drops at 7:05 p.m.