Bruins vs. Red Wings 9/23/17 Preseason RECAP: A brutal 2nd period hands Boston their first preseason loss

[Takes a breath]

...Arright I know it’s preseason and everything but man this game was not fun to watch, let’s go over why.

First Period

The first period actually started alright, with both sides trading chances and mostly having power struggles in the Neutral zone and both sides trading penalties that they inevitably killed off...Except for one. Things finally went the Bruins way, as on one of those many power plays found Austin Czarnik with a heck of a shot, 1-0 Bruins!

And the Bruins went into the 2nd period with a power play! How could this go wrong?

2nd Period, where everything went wrong:

I just don’t know what went wrong.

Well, I kind of do. The defense collapsed in on itself and under the weight of so many penalties. But most importantly...Zane Mcintyre’s mind seemingly collapsed in. Allow me to explain.

Martin Frk got a goal after a solid passing play from Mantha, which tied the game. Everything else was...kind of dumb. Frans Nielsen on the powerplay was right in front of McIntyre, more or less untouched and he couldn’t make a save on the rebound. 2-1 Red Wings.

Then, Nielsen took a cross-ice pass from Mantha and McIntyre couldn’t seal off the short-side. 3-1 Red Wings. Then Darren Helm some time later was left all alone in space and blasted it past Zane to put the Red Wings up 4-1.

That ended Zane McIntyre’s night.

Third Period:

Malcolm Subban was in for the rest of the game. Things didn’t look great for him as the team almost immediately put him on a 5-on-3 penalty kill and...the first shot went in. 5-1 Red Wings. The rest of the period was Boston making futile efforts towards scoring. They got power plays, they got shots on goal in individual shifts and individual work and it just didn’t happen. Nothing worked.

Eventually the clock struck zero, and the Bruins ended up with their first loss of the preseason.

Game Notes:

• This was the most passive Boston has played all preseason and it really looked bad on them, they were outshot and outplayed through the last 40 minutes.
• The penalty kill wasn’t terrible, but there’s only so many a good penalty kill can take after the team isn’t playing all that well in even strength.
• McIntyre was fine in the first period, but once one goal went in it felt like every other one was one mental mistake after another. Kid really doesn’t look NHL ready right now.
• Jake DeBrusk was skating through traffic, get right up on Jimmy Howard, and going through as many Red Wings as he could but couldn’t the goal, which is a shame. He was one of only a few Bruins to actually be trying for something tonight.
• Rob O’Gara and McQuaid had themselves the kind of night that has them doing suicide skates until they puke. They played poorly tonight.
• The Krejci line actually played pretty solidly as a unit, but as with everything this game they couldn’t get enough of a shot off or it was one that just wouldn’t go through.
• Matt Beleskey played tonight?
• Subban came in during the third and was okay. He let up a goal on a 5 on 3 but that was about it.
• Anyone who bitches and moans about Jack Edwards and Brickley needs to watch an entire FOX Sports - Detroit Broadcast for some perspective. They brought out some of the most dull, uninteresting commentators to barely stay on topic and spent most of the broadcast talking up the new stadium. This just made a miserable game that much more miserable.

The Bruins play on Monday night back in Boston against the Blackhawks at 7pm EST. See you there for that.