Boston Bruins: Loss to the Red Wings is totally excusable

The Boston Bruins unfortunately saw their six-game winning streak come to a screeching halt against the basement-dwelling Detroit Red Wings.

A loss to the bottom side in the standings with a points percentage this year of just 0.268% would typically be viewed as awful. However, the Boston Bruins should have zero reason for concern in this loss.

The Boston Bruins played in Detroit just 22 hours after puck-drop in their game with the Arizona Coyotes. The 12:30 puck-drop meant they saw minimal recovery time when you also factor in a flight to Michigan.

The odds were stacked before the game even started and the lethargic Boston Bruins display was a very likely result of this scheduling.

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Also, factor in that usually on a back-to-back, Tuukka Rask takes one start and Jaroslav Halak takes the other. While Halak was still well enough to back-up, he was suffering an illness that meant Rask was called upon late for a second start in 24 hours; not ideal either.

The Boston Bruins may not have left Detroit with the win and indeed the Red Wings seem to have our number this season, but it’s not to say they didn’t have a red-hot go at grabbing a seventh straight victory.

Brendan Perlini opened the scoring for the Red Wings in the second period, but in the opening thirty seconds of the third, the Bruins had drawn level courtesy of Torey Krug.

At no point in the game did Detroit ever truly take control, not based on Corsi, scoring chances or anything but the fact they got more pucks past Rask than we did Jonathan Bernier. The Red Wings netminder proved our nemesis on this occasion, batting away all but 1 of the 40 shots we put on his net.

Looking to the two teams’ Expected Goals For percentage, Bernier was the difference-maker in this game; the Boston Bruins, based on their dominance had an Expected Goals For of 2.72 goals. By comparison, the Red WIngs should’ve expected 2.44 goals; the difference was Bernier.

In terms of shots, the Bruins managed 12 in the first period alone. By the end of the second period, Detroit had put just 13 pucks on Tuukka’s Rask’s net, albeit one had slipped by him. To have 40 shots and only have 1 goal to show for it, while your opponent has half the shots and triple the goals just sums up hockey luck sometimes.

It’s a forgettable result for the Boston Bruins and one they’ll want to move on from fast, but it’s also a result that happens sometimes and can be swept under the rug.

The Bruins weren’t a bad side and aren’t giving off any vibe of slumping as a result of one unlucky game. The December doldrums are firmly behind them and I’d be expectant that they welcome the Montreal Canadiens to TD Garden with fire in their belly.

From there we turn our focus on the next few games, hopefully with a healthy back-up. We will be facing Detroit on a back-to-back again next weekend, with rather questionable scheduling once more. A 1PM start on Saturday, followed by a flight to New York for a 3:30PM start on the Sunday. Have we upset someone at the league scheduling office or something?

Statistics courtesy of Natural Stat Trick.