Boston Bruins struck by the struggling Edmonton Oilers

After a four game win streak, the Boston Bruins deployed Tuukka Rask hoping to improve his record on the season, but they were no match for the desperate Oilers who had previously been coming up dry so far this season.

After four wins and full bellies from leftovers following the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, the Boston Bruins and their fans needed a wake up call. The Bs appeared to fight off the food coma for a day when they beat the Pittsburgh Penguins Friday afternoon, but the sedation seemed to set in over the weekend as they were asleep against the Edmonton Oilers this Sunday afternoon.

1st period

Neither team could establish puck possession early as they traded icing calls for the first six minutes. The Oilers began to assert themselves halfway through the opening stanza as they gained the shot advantage 8-4 over the first 13 minutes.

Then the Bs were the beneficiary of a hooking call on Mike Cammalleri and David Pastrnak delivered on the powerplay to open the scoring at 14:03 of the first. The Bruins weathered the storm when Frank Vatrano was called for tripping immediately after the Bs took the lead. After killing off the penalty, the Bruins road out the period to finish the first up 1-0, but down in shots 10-6 to the Oilers.

2nd period

The beginning of the second brought much of the same as both teams struggled to establish substantial possession. Then Bruins hunter Patrick Maroon evened the contest at 9:50 of the second stage. The Oilers carried the momentum after pulling even and their exertion on the Bruins’ defense caused a turnover that resulted in a pin ball goal by Adam Larsson at 14:20 of the period.

https://twitter.com/NHLBruins/status/934930163703443457

However, David Krejci responded just 1:11 later the even the contest at 2-2. After Connor McDavid felt the wrath of Zdeno Chara’s paw, the Bs killed off a huge penalty to go into the third knotted at 2-2 even though the Oilers had the edge in shots 27-11.

3rd period

The Oilers took control of the final period early when Ryan Strome sniped bar down to put Edmonton up at 2:07 of the third. The Bs battled and submitted some respectable chances as they tilted the advantage in shots 14-9, but their efforts were fruitless. Leon Draisaitl sealed the deal for the Oilers with an empty netter after a torturous third for the Bruins.

Key Takeaways

Tuukka Rask just can’t win. Just three years removed of winning the Vezina Trophy, Rask finds himself losing his job to the backup goaltender, Anton Khudobin, who battled for his life to win the backup gig in training camp. Rask is now 3-8-2 on the season while Khudobin is 7-0-2. At this rate and given the recent stretch, it may take a while for Tuukka to climb back into the good graces of his coaches and Bruins nation.

The Bruins couldn’t establish possession. The Bs’ chip and chase game didn’t allow them to maintain any pressure in the offensive zone. They looked sluggish coming off the holiday weekend. Perhaps they devoured their leftovers over the past two days in satisfaction of defeating the defending champions on Friday. Nevertheless, their effort was not enough.

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Zdeno Chara must be better as he numerously turned over pucks and took an undisciplined penalty against Connor McDavid. He submitted a poor effort tonight and the team needs better from their leader and leading minute eater, if they are to scrape their way into the postseason again.