The Boston Bruins started the 2016-17 season out well winning three out of four games. But with three straight losses the Bruins fall below .500 for the first time this season.
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The Boston Bruins started out on the right foot against the New York Rangers. Bruins forward David Pastrnak got a great feed from Brad Marchand and sent a shot past Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist just ten seconds into the game to give the Bruins an early lead. It was also the first time the Black and Gold scored first all season.
The Bruins finished the first period with a 2-0 lead. They played to their strengths and supported each other. They looked like they were finally ready to come out of the hole they had dug themselves in. Unfortunately, that was not the case. The Bruins suddenly found themselves on the wrong side of the refs in this game.
The Bruins ended up being on the penalty kill six times during the game. Some of the penalties at best were questionable. But the Bruins needed to pull together to fight through them, and then weren’t able to blank the Rangers. Two power play goals helped propel the Blueshirts past the B’s and cruise to a 5-2 win.
This brings the Bruins losing streak up to three games. It also knocks the Bruins below .500 for the first time this season. Claude Julien offered up his comments on the Bruins most recent defeat after the game.
“Well, sure, you’re happy with the first half, but you’re certainly not happy with the outcome,” said Head Coach Claude Julien, postgame. “We’re here to win hockey games, not to pat ourselves on the back when we think we deserve it.
“Unfortunately, I would have liked to see us play a whole game like , and I think the biggest thing, the biggest turnaround, was having to kill that many penalties,” said Julien. “You know, it’s our second game in two nights and you’re utilizing the same guys, and it becomes taxing.”
The Bruins didn’t look tired early in the game, but as the game progressed mistakes were being made. Normally good players like Torey Krug and David Pastrnak made technical errors in coverage that led to solid scoring chances against a rookie goaltender participating in his first NHL start.
“We played well right from the get-go and I think the first half of the game was pretty good, but you can’t win hockey games with the number of penalties that we were given,” said Julien. “And warranted or not, you’re not going to win when you’re taking five in a row.”
“It’s tough to win in this league and right now, if we’re going to be taking that many penalties, it’s going to be hard for us to win. We need every break we can get here with this hockey club. We had to stay out of the box to give ourselves a chance, and we didn’t do that.”
There are several important takeaways from the Bruins most recent loss
- These are the kind of losing streaks that get coaches fired. Claude Julien was skating on relatively thin ice at the start of this season, and cracks are starting to form under his feet.
- Torey Krug has been very underwhelming so far this season, and he’s not alone.
- A lot of people who have been hating on Tuukka Rask have been awfully quiet since the Bruins have tried every other goaltender in the system, just to see them fail at the NHL level. (Granted, Daniel Vladar hasn’t been given a shot yet, but at this pace it could happen before the end of the season.)
- Right now, the Bruins top forward line and fourth line are doing well. So is the Bruins top defensive pair. Other than that, there seem to be a lot of passengers on the squad at the moment.
Next: Boston Bruins In A Very Rough Patch
Hopefully, the Bruins can find their rhythm again. Hopefully, Tuukka Rask is able to play this weekend as well. The last thing the Bruins need is to have Toronto pass them in the standings.