Coming off a frustrating 2-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night in Raleigh, the Boston Bruins were looking to bounce back on Thursday against former coach Jim Montgomery and former defenseman Brandon Carlo and the St. Louis Blues.
Going into the game, the Blues had lost their last two games, and the Black and Gold were a desperate team that was closing out a homestand and heading out on the road. After grabbing an early lead again, Boston allowed St. Louis to build some momentum and belief, and it all led to a second straight loss for Marco Sturm's club. Here are three takeaways after the Bruins fell to 9-4-1 with a 4-1 loss.
Blues naturally break scoring drought against Bruins
Going into the game, Montgomery was desperately looking for his team to score by making some changes. After falling behind 1-0, the Blues were gifted a power play and needed just seconds to tie the game. After Charlie McAvoy was called for interference as he was being held, Jimmy Snuggerud tied the game with a power-play goal.
Naturally, that gave St. Louis some belief, and they took full advantage of it against a Boston team that played on their heels. They scored two second-period goals and were off and running. There are going to be some disappointing losses in a season, and this one will end up qualifying as one.
Bruins unable to figure out Joel Hofer
St. Louis made things tough for the Bruins in the offensive zone, and really in all three zones, but when Boston did have an opportunity to shoot, they didn't. They didn't create enough high-danger chances until it was too late. James Hagens scored the game's first goal in the opening period when Casey Mittlestadt fired a shot from the wall, and Hagens had a nifty tip in front of the net.
However, after that, there were some shots on net, but either there wasn't a screen, and St. Louis goalie Joel Hofer was able to see the shot, or they hit him with the shots. The Bruins' inability to have solid offensive zone time hurt. Meanwhile, down the other end, the Blues took advantage of Boston's defensive zone breakdowns in the second period to get some separation.
In the third period, Hofer stopped JJ Peterka at point-blank range, and then he made a nice save on a Geekie tip. It was one of those nights offensively for the Bruins. Boston outshot St. Louis, 32-18, in the game. Two goals in two games on the road isn't going to get it done for any team, including the Bruins.
Bruins defensive breakdowns prove costly
Going into the game, the Blues were outscored 17-9 in the middle period this season. Naturally, they won the second period, which ended up being the difference. Because, well, why not?
St. Louis took the lead at 5:17 of the second period when Boston had a defensive zone breakdown. Connor McMichael was behind the net and found a wide-open Philip Broberg at the top of the slot, and he had all day to pick his spot on Swayman after Matthew Poitras and Connor Clifton took the same guy in front of the net.
Then, Robert Thomas was set up and picked his spot on Swayman for a 3-1 lead. It just wasn't the second period, but it was really all game long where the Bruins were having breakdowns in the defensive end or having trouble exiting the zone. That's becoming a common theme lately.
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