The Boston Bruins offensive woes continued as the Bruins failed to score in tonight's game against the Vancouver Canucks. Old pal Jake DeBrusk naturally got the Canucks started with a second period power play goal after Canucks nemesis Brad Marchand was in the penalty box for cross checking. The good news was the Boston defense showed up big time in this one, suffocating the Canucks for pretty much the rest of the game. The Canucks only had 15 total shots while the Bruins peppered Kevin Lankinen for 32 on the other end. Unfortunately none of the 32 shots went in as Lankinen posted the shutout for the Canucks. Jeremy Swayman continued to show signs of his former self but the hapless offense continues to drag the Bruins down. Conor Garland got the empty net goal with 13 seconds left to hand Joe Sacco his first loss as Bruins coach 2-0 at TD Garden.
The first period was a whole lot of nothing mostly due to the Bruins defense. The first big save by Kevin Lankinen came with 7 minutes gone in the first period. Charlie McAvoy passed it to Mason Lohrei who fired to David Pastrnak. Pastrnak's one timer was denied and Pavel Zacha failed to tuck it in. Conor Garland then passed it to Pius Suter but his one timer was denied by Jeremy Swayman. With 11:20 left in the period, Swayman denied Filip Hronek and Teddy Blueger on the doorstep. Down the other end, John Beecher fed a pass to Andrew Peeke, who fired on net. Lankinen made the save and both Cole Koepke and Mark Kastelic failed to bang it in. Down the other end again, Dakota Joshua passed to a wide open Gardland but Swayman stoned him cold. With 5:30 left Charlie Coyle fired on net but was denied. Beecher was also denied by Lankinen a few seconds later. With four minutes left, Brad Marchand threw it in front to Justin Brazeau. Brazeau had Lankinen beat clean....if he didn't fire it completely over everything. Trent Frederic was also stopped and the biggest chance was blown when Morgan Geekie was stopped point blank with no one around him with two minutes left. Nothing else happpened the game was tied 0-0 after one.
The Bruins blew another chance off the bat just 66 seconds into the second period. Pastrnak had a wide open breakaway but failed to score on Lankinen. Charlie McAvoy had the pick with Lankinen down but failed to backhand it in. Marc McLaughlin was denied a few seconds later but down the other end, Nils Hoglander was denied by Swayman. That was Vancouver's fourth shot the entire game to show how dominant the defense was. With just over 3 minutes gone, Pastrnak centered a pass to Zacha who was denied by Lankinen. Everything fell apart when Marchand was whistled for cross checking 4:05 into the period to put the Canucks on the power play. Quinn Hughes fired it wide with Gardland scooping up the puck, dishing it to old buddy Jake DeBrusk who scored to put Vancouver ahead. Swayman argued that he was interfered with and Bruins coach Joe Sacco challenged the goal. The officials held the call and the Bruins took a delay of game penalty. With a few seconds left on their second power play, old buddy Danton Heinen left the puck for Kiefer Sherwood but Swayman stopped that one. Hoglander then passed it to a wide open Heinen but it went through his legs, otherwise Swayman would have had no chance to stop it. Carson Soucy then had a good look but Swayman stopped that too. With 7:20 left in the period Nikita Zadorov was denied a goal by Lankinen. Brazeau was also denied and the Bruins caught a break when Brock Boeser was called for slashing with 6:10 left in the period. On the power play, Marchand failed to bang a puck home for their only shot. With 3:35 left, Peeke found Pastrnak for a one timer but Lankinen made the save. A minute later, Marchand was denied as well as the Bruins ended the period down 1-0.
The third period began with the Bruins continuing to stifle the Canucks and got a chance with 2:22 gone in the period. Peeke fired it on net and Lankinen left a rebound, the Bruins failed to bang it home. Then Marc McLaughlin threw it on net and it squirted underneath Lankinen in the crease. Kevin BARELY got to it before Brazeau was able to bang it in to preserve the shutout. In the ensuing scrum, Joshua got called for roughing when he punched Frederic's helmet off. Naturally the Bruins failed to score on the powerplay when Zacha's one timer was stopped by Lankinen. Pastrnak fired it on net and Elias Lindholm failed to bang it in. With 9:45 left in the game Boeser was sent to the box for interference but once again the Bruins failed to score on the power play. The Bruins got good chances but Lankinen was a wall in the net. The Bruins final faux-pas came with 2 minutes left when Lohrei fired on net and Lankinen left a rebound. Pastrnak failed to bang it home and the puck moved safely out of the zone. The Bruins pulled Swayman and with 25 seconds left, a McAvoy blast went wide of the net. Pastrnak threw it in front and Lankinen somehow stopped Lindholm's shot from point blank range. Naturally Suter fed Garland for the empty net goal and the Canucks won the game 2-0.
Reaction:
That loss stings big time. The Bruins essentially controlled the game defensively but couldn't bury any pucks pas Lankinen. Some of the shots were routine saves but other times it was "how the hell did that not go in"? The lone goal scored against Swayman was also on a power play which makes it even worse that the Bruins were perfect 5 on 5. The Bruins also have an ignominious stat as they have only ONE goal all year in the third period at home. Can't blame Swayman or the defense for this one as the Bruins couldn't score. That's four goals in their last four games going back to the cataclysmic Columbus game that got Jim Montgomery fired. Sacco isn't exactly a neutral zone trap coach like Claude Julien so something has to be done about the offense. They may as well call up Fabian Lysell and tell him to sink or swim because nothing else is working lately. The loss drops the Bruins to 10-10-3 on the season. The Bruins play tomorrow night on the second night of a back to back tomorrow night on the road against the New York Islanders. The game begins at 7:00 PM at UBS Arena.
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