So much for that offensive resurgence against the New York Islanders. The Boston Bruins reverted back to their old ways of nothing as they lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins by a score of 2-1. The key to the game was in the second period. Charlie Coyle scored just 84 seconds into the game but with just one second left in the second, Rickard Rakell tucked one past Jeremy Swayman to tie the game. The Bruins never recovered as the much maligned Tristian Jarry held Boston scoreless after that first goal. Just over seven minutes into the third, Philip Tomasino took a dish from Evgeni Malkin and scored to put Pittsburgh ahead. The Bruins put 32 shots on Jarry but 31 of them were saved as the Penguins beat the Bruins 2-1 at TD Garden.
The Bruins didn't waste any time getting on the board in the first period. Jack St Ivanny turned the puck over right onto the stick of Tyler Johnson. Johnson dished it to Trent Frederic who passed to a wide open Charlie Coyle who fired it in for his fifth goal of the season just 1:24 into the game. Just over a minute later, a 2 on 1 resulted in a wide open Sidney Crosby breakaway....saved by Jeremy Swayman. Swayman also stopped a slapper by Marcus Pettersson to keep the lead intact. Justin Brazeau nearly tucked one past Jarry but it was saved.
Just over six minutes into the first period, Cole Koepke had a partial breakaway but couldn't fire it past Jarry. Swayman held the fort with some big saves on the other end but Mason Lohrei's slapshot was saved by Jarry. With just over 8 minutes left in the first period, Johnson dished it back to Patrick Wotherspoon but Jarry saved the slap shot attempt. Swayman kept busy by stopping a Philip Tomasino drive and then Ryan Shea got called for tripping with 7:55 left in the first. Charlie McAvoy was stoned by Jarry on the power play and Kevin Hayes was robbed by Swayman on a shorthanded attempt. Then disaster struck as Brad Marchand got bagged for interference just 56 seconds into the powerplay. Four on four solved nothing and the Bruins killed off the penalty. Jarry stoned Pavel Zacha with just over a minute left and Swayman stopped Michael Bunting at the other end. Then the Bruins got stupid as Tyler Johnson was whistled for tripping with 22 seconds left and Nikita Zadorov on the bench reached over and poked Evgeni Malkin with his stick. Malkin retaliated and a scrum ensued. Both Zadorov and Malkin got matching penalties but the Johnson call put the Penguins on the power play as the first period ended with the Bruins up 1-0.
Ironically it was the Bruins who got the first chance of the second period on the penalty kill. McAvoy tossed the puck to Marchand who passed it to Coyle for the one timer....saved by Jarry. Three minutes later, David Pastrnak sent the puck right to Pavel Zacha on the doorstep but Zacha couldn't tuck it in. 7 minutes into the period Pettersson shot it off Swayman for a rebound but Tomasino couldn't bang it home. 8:11 into the period Bunting stripped McAvoy of the puck for a 2 on 1 but Swayman robbed Anthony Beauvillier point blank. The Bruins went on the power play again when St. Ivanny went off for tripping halfway through the period but once again the Bruins could do nothing with it. Disaster struck at the end of the period with a Bruins zone faceoff with six seconds left. Crosby won the draw back to Erik Karlsson who's slapshot went wide. Crosby scooped the puck up, tossed it to Tomasino who fired it past Swayman with 1 second left in the period to tie the game. That turned out to be the backbreaker as we went to intermission tied 1-1.
The third period belonged to the Penguins as they peppered Swayman with six shots in the first couple of minutes. The game was essentially over 7:26 into the third when Malkin skated around Zacha and threw it in front. Tomasino shot it past Swayman to give the Penguins the lead. It was Tomasino's first of the season to boot. The final big chance came with 8:14 left as Brandon Carlo fired it on net and Jarry left a rebound. Charlie Coyle dragged it and drew Jarry out of the net, but a heads up play by Kris Letang blocking the shot from going into the net kept Pittsburgh in front. With 7:03 left, Bunting was whistled for holding the stick to give the Bruins one last power play chance, but they failed to score. Karlsson saved the day for Pittsburgh after Andrew Peeke's slapshot caromed right to Morgan Geekie with Jarry down. Karlsson stepped in front and blocked Geekie's attempt. The Bruins pulled Swayman for the extra attacker but Pastrnak's last second blast was saved by Jarry to give Pittsburgh the 2-1 win.
Reaction:
The good news is once again the defense put up a damn good fight, holding the Penguins to just two goals after teams were utterly dominating the Bruins throughout most of November. The bad news was the offense once again evaporated. Getting stoned by Tristian Jarry is embarrassing enough but the saves made by Karlsson and Letang just goes to show the Bruins have no puck luck at all. The Bruins power play currently ranks dead last in the NHL and Joe Sacco needs to change up the lines or Don Sweeney needs to call up Fabian Lysell to sink or swim. Whatever they're doing now clearly isn't working since the only team they beat up were the god damned New York Islanders. Crosby, Malkin, Letang and Karlsson make a great NHL 2010 all-star team but its 2025 in a month, the Bruins shouldn't be getting shut down like this damn near every game. The loss drops the Bruins to 11-11-3....ugh. The Bruins remain home for their special Centennial Game against the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday afternoon. 100 years to the day the Boston Bruins played their first game, they take on Les Habitants at 3:00 PM at the TD Garden.
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