BSJ Game Report: Bruins 6, Kraken 5 – Boston comes away with wild win against Seattle

Everything you need to know from the Bruins’ 6-5 win over the Seattle Kraken, with BSJ insight and analysis…

BOX SCORE 

HEADLINES

Bruins come back to win fifth in a row: Jake DeBrusk gave the Bruins the lead with 1:38 remaining in regulation, and Boston held on to win a raucous 6-5 affair at the Seattle Kraken on Thursday for a fifth straight victory. 

The Bruins worked Seattle on the forecheck and sent the puck back to Charlie McAvoy at the point. DeBrusk got a stick on Charlie McAvoy’s shot from range, redirecting the puck off the top-right corner of the bar and in. 

Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, David Pastrnak and David Krejci each notched a goal and an assist for Boston (44-8-5). McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm each had two assists, and Jeremy Swayman made 36 saves.

Matty Beniers, Vince Dunn and Jamie Oleksiak each had a goal and an assist for Seattle (32-20-6), and Philipp Grubauer made 27 saves. The Kraken have lost six of nine games in February.

Beniers opened the scoring just 40 seconds into the game. The Hingham native picked the blocker side off the rush. 

Krejci evened it up just after the midway point of the period. The Czech line applied strong forechecking pressure, and Pavel Zacha found Krejci for a one-timer.

After a 1-1 first, a wild back-and-forth second period saw three goals a side. Marchand gave the Bruins their first lead of the game when he buried the rebound off McAvoy’s shot, but Oleksiak answered just 58 seconds later to make it 3-3. Bergeron gave the Bruins a lead with a shorthanded goal on a 2-on-1 with Marchand, but Yanni Gourde’s centering pass banked in off McAvoy 1:02 later to tie it, 4-4. 

Jaden Schwartz gave the Kraken a 5-4 lead with 4:10 to go in regulation when he deflected Will Borgen’s shot, but Brandon Carlo tied it 30 seconds later when he redirected Lindholm’s shot-pass from the point.

THREE UP

The top line: It was another classic showing from Bergeron and Marchand, and DeBrusk found a way to come up big in a key spot once again. They were relentless during 5-on-5 play, out-attempting Seattle 17-8 (68 percent). Each had a Corsi-for over 62 percent, according to Natural Stat Trick, and combined. Marchand and Bergeron came up with crucial goals in the second, and a strong forecheck worked the puck back to McAvoy before DeBrusk’s game-winner.

The Czech line: The trio of Zacha-Krejci-Pastrnak traded chances with the Kraken all night long, but Krejci’s equalizer, a product of a relentless forecheck, came at a key time after the Bruins leaked plenty of chances to start the game. Pastrnak added yet another highlight-reel goal for another critical tying goal in the second. 

Hampus Lindholm: The Swedish defenseman was once again a possession monster for Boston. He was simply dominant at 5-on-5 with the Bruins holding an 18-9 shot attempt differential (66.67 percent), according to Natural Stat Trick. He added two assists on the night, perhaps most importantly sending a deft shot-pass right to Carlo’s tape for the equalizer late in regulation. 

THREE DOWN

Playing with leads: In a somewhat expected turn of events, the Bruins were out of sorts defensively, skating with seven blue-liners and 11 forwards after the early evening shakeup that sent Craig Smith to Washington in a package for Garnet Hathaway and Dmitry Orlov. Boston was loose in their own end, failing to take care of the puck and protect and build on their leads. They held an advantage for all of a combined two minutes before DeBrusk’s go-ahead goal. 

Discipline: Seattle had four power plays to Boston’s one. Whether or not the calls are agreeable, the Bruins couldn’t put themselves in a position to go a man down as much as they did, especially with the lineup already in flux after the trade. The penalty kills prevented the lineup from finding a rhythm, which didn’t help Boston’s lack of execution defensively. Luckily, Seattle didn’t make the most of their opportunities.

Matt Grzelcyk: Grzelcyk had another solid night in terms of his possession metrics and made a good play on a Seattle 2-on-1 earlier in the game, but his turnover before the Schwartz goal nearly cost Boston the game. The Bruins took possession off the face-off in the defensive zone, and Grzelcyk had options to get the puck moving the right way. But he wound up in the corner, where Alex Wennberg stripped the puck and worked it back to the point before Schwartz’s redirect. 

PLAYS OF THE GAME

Pastrnak turned Adam Larsson inside out on the rush before snapping it over Grubauer’s glove.

Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but Marchand and Bergeron combined for a shorthanded goal. It’s hard to find a 2-on-1 executed more perfectly than this one.

LOOSE PUCKS

Thursday marked Jakob Zboril’s first action in 17 games, last suiting up Jan. 7, which was his first game in 18 games since Nov. 23. That’s just two games in 93 days. 

He played just 7:27. 

LOOKING AHEAD

The Bruins’ northwest road trip continues at the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday. Hathaway and Orlov are expected to join Boston in Vancouver, although it remains to be seen if either will play then.  

Puck-drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET at Rogers Arena.