FINAL: Blues 5, Bruins 1 - Bruins defense was a no show all throughout

The Bruins defense was not great tonight in their 5-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues. While Boston got off to a slow start in the first, I thought that they found their game shortly after and had good scoring chances. The problem the Bruins faced was that Joel Hofer was amazing in net finishing with 36 saves on the night. The Bruins had originally scored on a Justin Brazeau goal, but got waved off after St. Louis challenged for offsides. 

One of the goals that Boston gave up that caught my eye was the first one that had a wild rebound off the boards and the skate of the referee that landed perfectly in front of the net.

 It was the second period where everything went off the rails for the Bruins as they gave up a goal 4:31 in to Kevin Hayes to make it 3-0 and then Brandon Saad scored later in the period which made it 4-0. This was where the lack of Boston defense was exposed tonight. 

Something else that caught my eye was when the Bruins pulled the goalie with about eight and a half minutes left in regulation. While I understand that the idea was to gain some energy and set a spark for the team, I was not a fan of it because it came off as very aggressive and wound up putting the nail in the coffin. 

The only goal the Bruins came away with tonight was from David Pastrnak 1:48 into the third period. 

The Bruins will be back in action on Thursday night when they travel north of the border to face the Montreal Canadiens at 7 p.m. 

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• Bruins came out flat to start but found their game shortly after with good scoring chances. The problem was that Hofer was better. 
• Boston's defense wasn't great, especially in the second period. 
• Bruins had a goal that was disallowed after St. Louis challenged for offsides. That could have been a huge moment in the game because the Bruins would've gotten on the board and gone on the power play. 

THREE STARS OF THE GAME:

3. Kevin Hayes (One goal and an assist) 

2.  Kasperi Kapanen (One goal and two assists) 

1. Joel Hofer (36 saves)

_______________________________

WHO: Blues (32-29-3) at Bruins (38-13-15)
WHEN: 7 p.m. 
WHERE: TD Garden, Boston. 
TV: NESN
RADIO: 98.5-FM The Sports Hub
LIVE BOX SCORE
ROSTERS

 Heinen –  Zacha –  Pastrnak
Van Riemsdyk –  Geekie –  Frederic
 Lauko –  Boqvist –  Brazeau
 Grzelcyk –  McAvoy
 Lindholm –  Carlo
 Lohrei –  Shattenkirk

 Swayman
 Ullmark

BLUES
Schenn-Thomas-Kyrou
Bolduc-Buchnevich-Neighbours
Saad-Hayes-Kapanen
Toropchenko-Sundqvist-Walker
Leddy-Parayko
Krug-Kessel
Perunovich-Faulk
Hofer

PREGAME NOTES
The Bruins conclude their four-game homestand at TD Garden to host the St. Louis Blues at 7 p.m. Charlie Coyle missed the morning skate today due to an illness but is still expected to suit up tonight versus the Blues. Jim Montgomery told reporters today that he will be going with the same lines from Saturday. Andrew Peeke was on the ice this morning for the first time with Boston but will not be in the lineup versus St. Louis. 

"I'm not going to commit to getting him in, but he's going to get in because he's an important piece and we've got to get him acclimated and assimilated to how we play and get him comfortable,” Jim Montgomery told reporters.“But we want him to be comfortable with a couple of practices before he gets in that situation,” Montgomery continued. 

The Bruins face a Blues team that is coming off a three-game losing streak, most recently to the New York Rangers by a score of 4-0. St. Louis has struggled in 5-on-5 play. They enter with only 112 even-strength goals, which is tied for the fourth-fewest in the NHL. The Blues are eight points behind the Golden Knights who hold the final wild card spot out west. Pavel Buchnevich leads the squad in goals (24) and Robert Thomas leads in points (69). The Blues have the 11th-best power play in the league with a 23.2% since January 20th.