After losing to the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night at the TD Garden, the Boston Bruins were looking to bounce back against the Western Conference-leading Minnesota Wild. The Bruins already lost their first meeting in Minnesota earlier this season in the first week and lost 4-1.
It was another slow start for the Bruins and head coach Marco Sturm, and as they learned against the Canadiens, coming back from a multi-goal deficit is not what they're built for. Here are three takeaways after the Bruins suffered a second straight loss for the third time this season, this time 6-2 to Minnesota.
Bruins have another slow start against an elite team
So for the second time in two days, the Bruins faced one of the elite teams in the NHL. Thursday night it was the Montreal Canadiens who raced out to a 5-0 lead in the second period and coasted to a 5-2 victory to take over first place in the Atlantic Division. Saturday night it was the Wild.
It was a carbon copy, nearly, of the other night, except that the Wild did their damage in the second period after a first-period goal from Ryan Hartman. Beginning the period, 4-on-4, Quinn Hughes made it 2-0, and then Blake Coleman made it 3-0 just over a minute later on the power play. The Bruins were outscored 9-2 in the last two games in the first two periods. That's not going to win many games.
Bruins top players MIA
Trailing 4-1 through two periods is not a way the Bruins want to be playing. They are not built to come back from many deficits. Through the last two games and the first two periods in those games, they have two goals and they were scored by Casey Mittlestadt and Fraser Minten.
It's not like the Black and Gold's top players haven't had opportunities. They have. Canadiens goalie Jacob Fowler made some big saves, and the Wild's Jesper Wallstedt did the same. The first line has been missing through the last two games, aside from a third-period strike from David Pastrnak, and they can't be. Sure
How do the Bruins respond after the last two games?
How do the Bruins respond after the last two games? It'll be interesting. They played two teams that are clearly better than them and lost both. Sure, over an 84-game schedule, they are going to hit some bumps in the road, but with a home-heavy November schedule and just 2-2-0, the response against the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday night is worth watching. They can say all the right things; however, it's about going out and doing them. They didn't in the last two games.
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