3 Boston Bruins Takeaways Against The Chicago Blackhawks

Last night was a game to forget. As the road trip continues, the Boston Bruins losing streak continues. The team has now lost three of it’s last four games and last night was as ugly as a loss can get. A Chicago Blackhawks team without Jonathan Toews or Patrick Kane defeated the Bruins 6-3. Here are three Boston Bruins Takeaways from their loss last night.

Boston Bruins Takeaways Against The Chicago Blackhawks

The Third Pair

If there was one defensive pair that was bad for the Bruins, it was the third pair. For a pair that has been reliable majority of the year, tonight was a different story. With the defensive pair experiment still going on, this was the pair that was noticeable. Not in a good way. Derek Forbort and Connor Clifton were on the ice for three and four goals respectively. In addition, here is a painted picture of how the Blackhawks had their way with them on the ice. Chicago out-chanced them 28-13, out shot 20-11, and dominated the high-danger areas 20-7. This is all with them combined as they were paired together.

Clifton (33.33%) and Forbort  (30%) had the lowest Corsi For Percentages on the team. To make matters worse, their impact was even worse on the ice with their CF REL being in the basement. Overall, a very poor showing for them and a game where Brandon Carlo should’ve been on the ice.

The Czech Line

One of the better lines for the Bruins in this game was The Czech Line. They grabbed the goal to give the Bruins a 3-2 lead, but that was short-lived. Despite them being on the ice for a goal against, they played well as a line.

When the trio was on the ice, they out-chanced Chicago 10-4 and had a Corsi For of 71.43%. Their possession metrics were great and they limited the opposition to generating anything while also not turning over the puck. In addition, they had a shot differential of 6-2 and had the best ability to generate chances throughout the game. Their expected goals for percentage of 54.42% was the best on the team. In a game filled with negatives, this was a positive.

Ullmark’s Worst Start In A Long Time

All good things come to an end. Even for the great Linus Ullmark who has been on a tear for over a month now. Coming into this game, Ullmark was 8-0 and had a 2.00 goals against average in the month of March. But this was a major stinker for the Vezina favorite goaltender.

Ullmark allowed five goals on 28 shots he faced. In addition, he ended the night with a .821 save percentage and a .733 save percentage in the high-danger areas of the ice. To make matters worse, four of the five he allowed came from that area. In his last eight starts prior to this game, he’s allowed more than two goals only once.

What Lies Ahead

Overall, a gut-punching loss that the team needs. Even though Chicago is a basement dweller team they are out to play and no game is a given in this league. Getting complacent is easy to do and in the surface it looks like the Bruins are coasting. It’s an easy thing to do as the team has finally hit 10 regulation losses while also surpassing the 100 point mark. But the road trip does continue. The Bruins next matchup comes against one of the top teams in the Central Division. A date with the Winnipeg Jets is on deck Thursday Night at 8:00 PM EST. It will be a tough test, but a good chance for the team to bounce back. Shake this loss off and move forward.

All Statistics Come From Natural Stat Trick