Takeaways
- Once again, it was not a good first period for the Bruins. They got to the end of the period scoreless, but they had only two shots on the net, with their first not coming until seven and a half minutes were gone in the period.
- Rookie goalie Dan Vladar did all he could to keep the Bruins in the game, especially early in the second period. In the first minute, he stopped not one, but two Penguins breakaways to keep the game scoreless. Pittsburgh finally got two pucks by him, doubling their total from March 16 when they only scored one in a 2-1 loss. Zach Aston-Reese redirected a pass for the first goal, before defensemen Mike Matheson went around Lauzon and stuffed home a shot for a 2-0 lead.
- Things could have been a whole lot worse for the Bruins after two periods. With the final seconds of the period winding down, Cody Ceci was alone in front of the net, only to be robbed point-blank by Vladar keeping it a two-goal deficit for Boston.
- Has there been a better goalie as of late in the NHL than DeSmith? He entered Thursday night 4-1 in his last five starts with a 0.80 goals-against average. After stopping both Bruins shots in the first period, he stopped all 13 attempts in the second period. DeSmith, who played three years at the University of New Hampshire, allowed Marchand’s goal in the final period, but stopped the other 15 shots.
- Earlier in the season, the Bruins were stealing games with a third-period rally, and sooner or later that is going to catch up with you and it has now. Chasing goals in the NHL is never what you want to be doing and Pittsburgh is a team that usually wins when they have a lead. The Pens are 13-3-1 when scoring first this season.
However you want to paint it, the Pittsburgh Penguins were the better team from start to finish. Right now, the Bruins are a team stuck in neutral going nowhere fast.