The Bruins Review

(2/8-2/10)

I wouldn’t be too happy if I was the Boston Bruins right now or a Bruins fan for that matter. Although the Bruins went 1-1 in the last two games (4-0 Vs Vancouver and 0-3 VS Washington), both were very boring games with little action. Even though the Canucks are the top team in the league points wise, they didn’t look like they came to play and there was zero energy brought by the Bruins in the loss to Washington.

I said at the end of the last Bruins Review that Captain Brad Marchand would be coming out flying vs the Canucks after the bad loss to Calgary. Oh boy did he deliver, scoring a shorthanded goal 32 seconds into the game after Jacob Lauko took a holding penalty on the first shift. Not sure what Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko was thinking when he tried to handle the puck, he put his defender in a tough situation leading to a Charlie Coyle steal and a nice look to Marchand in front of the net. Marchand then gets a roughing call, once again showing that he came ready to play with energy this game.

The Bruins commit another penalty, but again the Canucks power play leads to a Bruins shorthanded goal. Charlie Coyle makes a nice steal and pass to Danton Heinen who out skates two Canucks defenders, makes a great inside move and finishes glove side to make it 2-0 Bruins. This was not the only time this game Heinen’s skating was on display this game, whether he was negating icings or forechecking he looked strong and fast moving out there.

Morgan Geekie gets credit for the 3rd Bruins goal off a crazy ricochet after David Pastrnak’s stick explodes on a slapshot. It tips Geekies stick and is eventually kicked in by a Canucks defender, completely deflating Vancouver who looked like they had already packed it in for this game. They show this by letting up a Paval Zacha break away goal 15 seconds later, after two Canucks defenders over-commit on James Van Riemsdyk who makes a nice pass on the assist, making it 4-0.

On paper this looks like a great win, but I think players on both sides would admit the Bruins kind of coasted to this win. Besides the first few minutes of the first and second periods, the Bruins were not creating many chances to score. This continued into the game against Washington on 2/10, but lack of scoring was not the only problem the Bruins had against the Capitals. 

The game started off with 7:49 of continuous play, with a couple of great Jeremy Swayman saves mixed in there. His strong play was about the only positive thing to take away from this game and the only thing that kept this game from getting out of hand. Right away you could tell the Bruins had no energy and were playing flat, just as they had vs Calgary earlier in the week. Not the way you want your team to come out after shutting out one of the best teams in the NHL.

Halfway through the game the Bruins had only managed five shots, with only two of them being on net. The Capitals get a power play and after Brandon Carlo gets his stick broken, he lies down on the ice to try to block the passing lane, but Max Pacioretty finds TJ Oshie who rips one glove side on Swayman. The Capitals make it 2-0 after Charlie Coyle gets the puck taken away from him for a turnover, a theme since the All-Star break, and Alex Ovechkin makes a nice saucer pass to Charlie Lindgrin for the goal.

Once again Coach Jim Montgomery switches up the lines starting the 3rd period, with Henein getting bumped up to first line, but this unfortunately does nothing to change the Bruins play. They were given three power plays in the 3rd period, but could not capitalize on any of them and looked incapable of getting the puck into the offensive zone at some points. Alex Ovechkin passes Wayne Gratzky for most empty net goals in NHL history and the Bruins lose 0-3 to the Capitals.

Poor special teams, turnovers, penalties and inconsistent passes have been what the Bruins have brought to the Ice since the All-Star break. They have been taking way to many penalties, 15 total in their last three games, which is only showcasing the team’s struggles on the penalty kill. Accompany that with poor execution on the Power play and the Bruins have been losing the special teams battles the past three games. Pasta continues to struggle, and if his play doesn’t change in the next few games, it might be time to start worrying, but hopefully he is in just a little bit of a slump.

The game against the Capitals showed some of the Bruins flaws, especially on defense after Matt Grzelcyk was thrown out after spearing Max Pacioretty in the groin. They struggled on defense after he went out and their lack of offense was apparent with them having their lowest shot total of the season. It isn’t getting any easier for the Bruins as the Tampa Bay Lighting come to Boston on Tuesday 2/13. The Bruins are going to have to earn it if they want to get back in the win column.