Bruins can’t dig themselves out of first period hole, lose 4-2

First Period:

Things started pretty good with the Bruins getting a David Krejci goal, courtesy of the most meat and potatoes play you could possibly come up with, and it worked wonders. 1-0 B’s!

Good pass by a guy on his third or fourth last chance, imo.

And then...

...Yeah. Things just spiraled into how the game actually ended up going. Boston’s issues with puck security and puck management made their triumphant return in order to assure Detroit got out of this period with a 2-1 lead.

Second Period:

guuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu-

-uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh.

Were you even trying to cover Fabbri? 3-1 Red Wings

Things would improve slightly, as newly-minted Alt. Captain Torey Krug decided that now that he was constantly wearing the A he would normally get on a power play, he would go for a goal instead. And get one he did!

It’s nice of him to diversify.

Regrettably, the B’s would not pull even, and the period would end with the Wings up 3-2.

Third Period:

The short story is that Boston spent a lot of time mucking around with the puck and not accomplishing much.

The long story is that a now very short-handed team as Bruce Cassidy benched a couple of guys did everything they could to get past Bernier, but could not. They tried damn near everything and tried to show they had passion, but passion spent in the service of a lackluster effort doesn’t make you look like you care. It makes you look frustrated.

Anyway the Red Wings scored on an empty net.

And then the B’s lost 4-2.

Game Notes:

• Bruce Cassidy needs to sit his team down at one point between now and Sunday and let them know in no uncertain terms that the lackluster puck management and careless play that has plagued the last three games is just unacceptable. Players throughout the lineup and regardless of position have been treating the puck so carelessly it’s starting to cost them points. This was a completely avoidable loss and the B’s just waltzed in and let Detroit give it to them.
• And what the hell was that disastrous effort on the PK!? They recovered a bit in the later half of the game and they should be lucky the Refs called as many penalties as they did because there was a stretch of this game where the Red Wings were 2/2. Simply unacceptable.
• As with last year, it really cannot be overstated that you can’t expect guys like Pastrnak to score in every game he’s in. He got a point tonight, and then the team struggled to get anything before Krug’s maybe-deflection went in. He ended up being but a few seconds lower than Charlie McAvoy on the even-strength TOI.
• Call me crazy, but I think the Celery-Krejci-Heinen thing might deserve a longer look if it’s going to create opportunities like it did tonight. Especially notable since they were the only line of forwards tonight over 50% in the fancystats dept. Everyone else?...well, see the gameflow chart.
• Zach Senyshyn and Sean Kuraly ended up not playing much tonight, with 7ish and 8 minutes respectively. Given how desperate Boston was to score, that’s not super surprising...in theory.
• I sincerely don’t know what to tell you at this point regarding the B’s defense or deployment: Either calling somebody up who might not be shit or wait for either player on IR isn’t gonna fix this right away, as the same puck management issues that plague popular targets like Clifton are happening to every player. I’m starting to think this is a systems issue right now that needs to be rectified immediately.
• Waiting for Kevan Miller or one of the 10 fourth liners you bought this offseason to get back from IR is not an option if they wanna keep their point pace. I don’t give a crap if Bruce isn’t “impressed” by anybody’s game. You either play the guys you have or call someone up. Development can absolutely mean a player getting exposed to NHL competition and you aren’t going to set anyone back if they appear twice and then return to Providence.

A Saturday to travel home, then the Bruins face the Philadelphia Flyers at the Garden at 7pm EST on Sunday.

We’ll see you there.