Boston Bruins: Woes of the Road.

Dec 2, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Kings defenseman

(8) checks Boston Bruins left wing

(88) into the boards during first period action at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports

The Boston Bruins knew their road trip was going to be a rough one. They were taking on some of the best teams in the entire league, and they were going to be doing it with half an AHL team.  Still, the Bruins did play a solid game against the Anaheim Ducks and it was disappointing they lost 3-2 in regulation. One of the bright spots in the Bruins loss was the performance of David Pastrnak.

There were concerns that Pastrnak might not be ready for the NHL. A lot of us remember the injury he took in the preseason (on a hit delivered by Matt Bartkowski). Many people thought he didn’t have the size to be able to withstand the serious levels of contact a player takes at the NHL level. Pastrnak took a serious amount of abuse tonight at the hands of the Los Angeles Kings, and withstood the onslaught well.

There were similar concerns about back up goaltender Niklas Svedberg. Svedberg hadn’t had a phenomenal training camp, and the Bruins had once again limited their options by trading away a solid number two goaltender. Svedberg was equally up to the task tonight. While the outcome may not have been ideal, it showed that both players can play with the elite of the National Hockey League.

The Bruins put forth a solid defensive effort tonight against the Kings, but one mental error between Gregory Campbell and Daniel Paille led to a scoring chance for the Kings. Tanner Pearson got the only shot of the night through Niklas Svedberg. The Kings added a last minute empty netter to give Los Angeles a 2-0 win over the Black and Gold. Jonathan Quick stopped all thirty-one Bruins shots on his net.

Those were a tough two points for the Bruins to give up tonight. The Bruins are 0-5 on the bottom half of back to back games this season.  This is the third time this season that the Black and Gold were blanked in a game this season. The Bruins fall to 5-6 on the road, 14-11-1 overall, and are slipping down the rankings.

“Again, our goaltenders in both those games have been good,” Boston coach Claude Julien said. “They’ve given us a chance to win hockey games. Again, we just can’t find ways to score some goals here. It’s hard to get mad at these guys when you see the effort being put in and the commitment and everything else. Just at the end of the night, didn’t get rewarded with a single point.”