The Bruins are formally in a stoop – a minimum of in accordance with their 2022-23 requirements.
For the primary time this season, the B’s have misplaced two video games in a row – and it was a painful manner for the B’s quit that time of delight on Saturday at FLA Live Arena.
The B’s coughed up three leads – the final with lower than two seconds left in regulation – after which Sam Reinhart received it 17 seconds into time beyond regulation to carry the Florida Panthers to a 4-3 victory.
Not solely did the B’s lose their second straight (although they did earn some extent on this one), they did so by getting outplayed within the third interval once more. The B’s have owned the third interval this 12 months, however not within the final two video games.
The B’s proper now appear like a staff which desperately wants the the All-Star break/bye week. But they nonetheless have two robust video games left — at Carolina on Sunday and at Toronto on Wednesday. And with Jake DeBrusk and Tomas Nosek already on the shelf, Trent Frederic can be questionable for Sunday in opposition to the Hurricanes after he blocked a shot within the first interval and couldn’t return.
Nervous Bruins followers have needed the B’s to face some robust occasions to check them. Well, right here you go.
“We’re facing a little adversity right now,” coach Jim Montgomery instructed NESN. “It’s the first time all year that we haven’t prevailed in two games in a row. So we’re going to have to look at what we’re doing wrong and ways to get better.”
One space that all of a sudden wants enchancment is the ability play. Ranked third within the league, the B’s went 0-for-2 on Thursday in Tampa and 0-for-4 on Saturday in Sunrise.
“Our power play has gotten outworked the last two nights and that has led to very little zone time,” mentioned Montgomery.
The final two minutes of the sport had been wild.
The B’s had been being completely outplayed within the third interval (outshot 13-6), however with a few minutes left, they turned it on. In the midst of a dominant Bruin shift, David Pastrnak modified on in time to take Matt Grzelcyk move and bury his thirty eighth of the 12 months from the excessive slot, beating Alex Lyon with a wrister with 48.6 seconds left.
But the Panthers saved Lyon on the bench for the the following faceoff they usually tied it up with 1.4 seconds left with the additional man. The B’s couldn’t get the puck out of the zone regardless of a number of alternatives to take action. Then it appeared as if Brandon Carlo would kill the clock as he protected the puck behind the online in opposition to the boards, however the Panthers dug it out and bought it out excessive. As Carlo was crosschecked to the ice, he blocked an Aaron Ekblad shot however it went proper to Sasha Barkov, who was in a position to beat Jeremy Swayman from the slot.
“I was a little deep,” mentioned Swayman. “I want to make sure I step out on that but I think he made a shot through a screen a little bit and it just tucked in. But I’ll work on that and not let it happen again.”
In OT, the B’s by no means managed the puck. Barkov dished to Reinhart for a one-timer, which ramped up off Charlie McAvoy’s stick and into the highest shelf and the Panthers had themselves a win they desperately wanted.
The B’s took a 2-1 lead into the third interval however they might not maintain it. Sam Bennett, who had inadvertently put a puck in his personal internet to provide the B’s that lead, atoned at 8:29 of the third when he beat Swayman on a wrist shot off the push.
Midway by means of the primary interval, a hustling Patrice Bergeron turned what may have been a 2-on-1 in opposition to right into a four-minute energy play for the Bruins. Hampus Lindholm fell within the impartial zone and the Panthers all of a sudden had an odd-man rush. But earlier than Bennett may determine what to do with the puck, Bergeron zoomed in from behind to pilfer the puck, then took a excessive stick from Bennett that drew blood.
But on the four-minute PP, the B’s may do nothing, producing only one in-too-tight shot from Pastrnak on Lyon, the Panthers’ third string goalie.
That kill ought to have given the Panthers some momentum, however they nearly instantly shot themselves within the foot. Rushed by an A.J. Greer forecheck, Florida defenseman Brandon Montour handed the puck to Craig Smith on the prime of the left circle. Smith, who’d been dropped to the fourth line, took a few strides to the center and sizzled a wrister previous Lyon’s blocker at 16:50. It was Smith’s third of the season and first in 10 video games.
After one other failed PP within the second, the Panthers tied it up when the B’s forwards bought caught in deep within the offensive zone. Breaking out on a 3-on-2, Barkov despatched a shot towards the online that Montour deflected previous Swayman at 8:55
The B’s believed they’d recaptured the lead at 10:30 when it appeared David Krejci had nudged the puck over the road, however it was instantly waved off. The league initiated a evaluate and, whereas it appeared that Givani Smith had pushed it over the objective line, Lyon’s glove shielded the puck from view and he pulled it out. No objective.
But luck would lastly shine on the B’s with 2:05 left within the interval. From the best boards, Charlie Coyle tried to ship an aerial move over to the left wing, however Bennett, in attempting to knock the puck down, directed it into his personal internet to provide the B’s a 2-1 lead. Bennett put his palms to his helmet in disbelief, however Coyle was credited along with his eleventh objective.
But the Panthers had been the higher staff within the third and earned the win.
“They played desperate,” mentioned Montgomery, “and we didn’t match it.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com