It was kind of appropriate for the Bruins to be forced to watch a number of talented, former teammates score and celebrate on the TD Garden ice as the hits just keep on coming for a Black and Gold group limping toward the offseason.
Old friends Nick Foligno scored a pair of goals, Ryan Donato added another for his 30th of the season and Tyler Bertuzzi potted the game-winner in the third period amidst a three-goal outburst in 93 seconds that led Chicago to a 5-2 victory at the Garden on Thursday night.
Tyler Bertuzzi pots his 22nd goal of the season and does so against his former Boston team. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/As44uSY9dI
— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) April 11, 2025
It was perhaps stunning to see the Bruins drop one to the lowly Blackhawks after a feel-good road win over the Devils just a few days ago, but it’s also par for the course for a sputtering hockey club that has consistently found ways to lose games all season.
“It’s still a humbling league,” admitted Joe Sacco. “It’s a good league regardless of where teams are in the standings. You have to be ready for 60 minutes, and it’s a learning lesson. You have to show up and compete for 60 minutes regardless of who you’re playing.
“We’re still evaluating players. We have a lot of young guys coming up here and it’s an opportunity for us to see where we’re at in their development. There are always things we can learn from every game that we play, especially in these final games down the stretch with the players that we have.”
One had to feel good for a guy like Foligno scoring his 13th and 14th goals of the season as the captain of the Blackhawks, as his performance underscored the kind of steady, supporting veteran presences missing on the Bruins this season. One of the missteps that the Bruins have already admitted this season was not having enough veteran players like Foligno, Kevin Shattenkirk and James van Riemsdyk to support the B’s leadership structure this season, and that devolved into an at-times disconnected dressing room.
For Bertuzzi it was his 22nd goal of the season and for Donato his 30th goal of the year while the Bruins have been scrounging for offense pretty much all season and were at it again in Thursday night’s loss.
Morgan Geekie did score his 31st goal of the season in the third period on a nifty no-look pass from David Pastrnak, and No. 88 scored his 42nd goal of the season in the first period.
But there has been very little consistent Bruins offense aside from those two productive forwards throughout the season, and watching B’s castoffs produce big offense for other teams does naturally bring management’s history of roster decisions into the equation.
“Ryan has the ability to shoot the puck, and it’s all coming together,” said Foligno of the Massachusetts native. “It’s a special year for him, a contract year, becomes a father, and you can see things start to sort out a little bit for him and who he is, and he’s probably become more comfortable with who he is as a person.
“He’s got a great role here, and it’s allowed him to play to the abilities he has, and we’re thrilled for him. He’s been a great competitor for us, and we’re happy to see him get 30.”
On the other end, the Bruins have to sort out the existing, remaining talent they do have rather than casting off more potential offense producers. That includes gifted offensive defenseman Mason Lohrei, who leads all B’s defensemen in points this season and has taken on a bigger role with Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm out of the lineup.
But he’s also a 24-year-old player who finished with a minus-4 in Thursday night’s loss and has now dropped to an NHL-worst minus-43 for the season. A player has to be pretty good to even get an opportunity to be the unfortunate holder of the NHL’s worst plus/minus mark for a season, but it’s clear there are a lot of defensive issues to be improved upon for Lohrei after his first full NHL season.
Gooood morning Folks….leaderboard update…action at the top!!…Lohrei with an uncharacteristic bogey..he rinsed his approach on 15..couldn’t get it up and down…birdie for Bertuzzi and huge 🦅 for Bedard on 14…the teenage sensation is back on top!!!! #TheMasters #TheGreenJacket pic.twitter.com/Df9XyT3nmE
— Mike Commodore (@commie22) April 9, 2025
“You watch Mason and there’s a lot of things this year in his development that have gone in the right direction, I think. But there’s also things that he needs to continue to work on, obviously,” said Sacco. “Being thrown into a situation where he’s being thrown in for more minutes as a young defenseman and going against other team’s top lines consistently night and night out, it’s not easy. It’s a tough task.
“One of the things he needs to continue to work on is his play away from the puck, his ability to defend and make good decisions while knowing who you’re playing against at all times. When you’re out there against offensive lines, it doesn’t take much for them to make you pay. I think that’s something he’ll continue to learn as he goes.”
Chicago’s first goal was a perfect example of Lohrei and Fabian Lysell both not being hard enough at the offensive blue line, and Lysell forcing a puck to the point rather than cycling it down low and keeping the puck in the offensive zone.
With all due respect, something has gone very wrong if 37-year-old Foligno is motoring down the wing on a breakaway.
A steal and a snipe for Nick Foligno ties the game at 1 pic.twitter.com/W41wPG9GL4
— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) April 11, 2025
At the other end of the spectrum was Woburn, Mass. native Riley Duran making his NHL debut and skating like a strong bottom-6 candidate next season while playing smart, strong and solid hockey. He finished with four shot attempts and four hits in 13:36 of ice time and generated scoring chances with a couple of fellow B’s skaters that are probably going to be with the NHL club next season.
“I thought Riley got better as the game went on. He had a really good [scoring] opportunity in the third period that hit the goalie’s shoulder. He was moving his feet. He was getting on the forecheck. He was noticeable, which I thought was a good start for him,” said Sacco of Duran who said the phrase “hard work pays off” was the message from his hockey coach dad, Jim, headed into last night’s debut. “His line was one of our better lines offensively. That line with him, [Fraser Minten] and [Marat Khusnutdinov], they generated some good quality chances, especially in the second period.”
The Duran performance was a little bit of good news for the Black and Gold amidst this year’s same old hockey team making the same old mistakes in the midst of another loss on the way to a likely top-5 draft pick in the NHL draft.