Bruins Hit an Early-Season Low With Frustrating Loss at Utah Hockey Club

Through the first five games of the 2024-25 season, the Boston Bruins were 3-2-0 with both losses coming to the hands of the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers. In both losses, the Panthers frustrated the Black and Gold and made them play undisciplined hockey in both games.

The other three games are wins in which the Bruins played Bruins hockey against the Montreal Canadiens, Los Angeles Kings, and Colorado Avalanche. Just when you thought that two games against Florida were an early-season low point, then came Saturday night's game against the Utah Hockey Club. How bad were things? Here are three takeaways.

1. Bruins top-nine forwards were, well, not good

Once again, the Bruins' fourth line was their best line of the night. Cole Koepke scored the lone Boston goal in the second period when he converted a 2-on-1 with Brad Marchand and beat Utah netminder Connor Ingram between the legs for a 1-0 lead.

The other Boston lines at 5-on-5 registered just five shots on Ingram combined. Again, the top nine at 5-on-5 had just five shots on Ingram in the game. That can't happen. It really can't. There is too much talent in the top nine for that to happen against any team. There are, at times, that the Black and Gold's top-nine are missing in games.

2. Utah's speed too much for Bruins

As the game went on, it was clear the Bruins were having trouble with Utah's team speed. It is what set up their goal in the third period that tied the game 1-1. Vladislav Kolyachonok took a pass at center ice and skated around and through the Boston defense and beat Swayman to tie the game.

That wasn't the only time it happened. It also happened earlier in the period, but Boston challenged a Utah goal for offsides and won the challenge. Too many times the Bruins' defense was burned by a quicker Utah team and if it wasn't for goalie Jeremy Swayman, the game would have never made it to overtime.

3. Bruins continue early-season turnover fest

The Bruins puck control was not very good again. Turnovers in the defensive end led to huge chances for Utah and thanks to Swayman, again, they couldn't convert them into goals. It didn't help that Boston continued a march to the penalty box during the game.

In overtime, David Pastrnak took a tripping minor penalty and despite his teammates killing it off, Utah won the game right after the penalty expired on a Michael Kesserling goal off a nice snipe over Swayman's shoulder. The Bruins killed off all four Utah power play chances, but it wasn't without golden opportunities for the hosts. In the third period, Mason Lohrei had a turnover in the defensive end that led to nearly a minute of zone pressure time for Utah which led to a couple of good chances.

The Black and Gold were six minutes away from starting their three-game road with a pair of wins, instead, they had to settle for a loser point and now need to beat the Nashville Predators on Tuesday night to consider this a successful early-season trip. It was a game in which if the Bruins got any production or more chances from their top-nine, they won, but instead more frustration early in the 2024-25 season.