Hosting the Montreal Canadiens at the TD Garden on Thursday night, the Boston Bruins were looking to hold onto their top spot in the Atlantic Division with a win. That wasn't the case.
Montreal scored two goals inside the first 10 minutes of the game, outshot Boston 10-2 before the Black and Gold could sustain pressure of any kind. They built a 5-0 second-period lead and coasted from there to a 5-2 win.
The loss dropped Marco Sturm's club down to third place in the Atlantic Division, with the Tampa Bay Lightning also jumping them in the standings with a win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Bruins are just one point clear of the Ottawa Senators from falling into a wild-card spot.
Ok, so it's November, and nobody really cares about the standings. I get it. However, what can't be denied is that the effort, or shall we say lack of effort, against the Canadiens at times played a role in the three-goal loss. After the loss, Sturm pointed the finger at multiple people, including himself, when he pulled goalie Jeremy Swayman midway through the second period.
“Overall, we were just not good enough, me included, goalie, players, you name it,” said Sturm, per BostonBruins.com. “Today was not good, and at 4-0 you usually try to do something.”
Bruins coach Marco Sturm was correct in dishing out the blame for the Canadiens loss
You could tell from the drop of the puck that the Bruins were not ready to go. After talking about getting off to a good start, as they did against the Florida Panthers, they came out and laid an egg. They left Swayman on an island by himself, but he didn't help matters by not coming up with big and timely saves.
Pulling Swayman after Caufield scored on a breakaway off a David Pastrnak turnover at the offensive blueline was the right move. It was a ploy to get his team to wake up, with his team down four goals, but it also got Swayman off his feet and left him as an option to start against the Minnesota Wild on Saturday night at home.
However, there were some opportunities for Swayman to come up with saves that he has routinely made this season, but he didn't. On the first goal by Kirby Dach, Swayman was simply beaten to the post on a wrap-around attempt. He usually gets there. Josh Anderson's goal that made it 2-0, he failed to quickly cover up the puck in the crease, and the veteran forward banged it home. Jake Evans' breakaway goal in the second period was scored between Swayman's pads, something he rarely allows on a breakaway or shootout.
The fourth goal was a sloppy Pastrnak turnover, but there was nothing Swayman could do. Everyone had a hand in the loss, and it's one you chalk up and move on from, with the Minnesota Wild on Saturday night.
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