Bruins' early-season struggles emerge again in frustrating loss to Canucks

Going into Saturday night's game at the TD Garden against the Vancouver Canucks, things were lining up nicely for the Boston Bruins. They were playing a team that played the night before on Long Island and on the fourth game of a five-game road trip.

The Canucks were starting Kevin Lankinen, who was 0-5-1 in his last six starts. Despite all of that, Vancouver had won the first three games on their trip, outscoring their opponents, 9-2, and continued their torrid road trip by rallying twice to deal the Black and Gold a devastating loss. Now 1-1-1 on their five-game homestand, Boston faces a pair of must-win games Sunday night against the Ottawa Senators and Tuesday night against the Montreal Canadiens to salvage the homestand before a long road trip after Christmas.

Bruins suffer devastating loss to Canucks

This was a bad loss. There's no other way to put it. The Bruins outplayed the Canucks for a good part of the game, only to lose in the shootout. They allowed two bad goals off turnovers that ended up in the back of their net, and there were a couple that Jeremy Swayman would like to have back. However, a team on a back-to-back survived behind Lankinen to steal the extra point in the shootout.

To the Bruins' credit, they tied the game late on an Andrew Peeke goal, but their failure to secure a second point was not the result the Black and Gold wanted and needed. They outshot Vancouver, 13-4, in the first period but were tied after a turnover in the defensive zone ended up in the net with 14 seconds left. That crossed off Morgan Geekie's 25th goal of the season.

The teams traded, giving up leads, which forced overtime. Boston carried the play in the five-minute overtime, but failed to score. The shootout was unlucky and frustrating. It went seven rounds before Liam Öhgren finally beat Swayman, and Lankinen stopped Morgan Geekie. What led up to the seventh round was what was frustrating.

Casey Mittlestadt went first for the Bruins and hit the post. David Pastrnak followed and beat Lankinen, but hit the crossbar. Then, after Marat Khusnutdinov missed, Marco Sturm decided to have Andrew Peeke take Boston's fourth opportunity. It was a bizarre choice and one that needs to be explained. This was a vital point up for grabs, and sending Peeke out there didn't make sense. It's not a game late in the season where the second point doesn't mean anything. This felt like a loss they would suffer earlier in the season.

The Bruins need to erase this one quickly and get ready for the Senators Sunday night in what is even now a bigger two points in the compact Eastern Conference standings.