Recap: Bruins blanked by Kraken, 3-0

The Boston Bruins were shut out, 3-0, by the Seattle Kraken tonight at the TD Garden, dropping their first regulation game of the season.

The loss ended a four-game win streak and 14-game point streak for the Bruins.

The Bruins were outplayed and outskated to the puck overall and lacked a sense of urgency in the third period to turn momentum to their favor.

Linus Ullmark kept it a competitive game with timely saves on Seattle, but there was no offense from the team to match his effort.

Here are the highlights from the game:

First period:

The Kraken opened the scoring at 7:14 of the first period.

Daniel Sprong threw a hard-angled shot on net from the right-wing circle’s outside hash marks that Brandon Tanev, along the goal line, redirected past Ullmark’s left skate and the post. 1-0 Kraken.

Second period:

The Kraken took a two-goal lead at 19:21 of the second period.

Oliver Bjorkstrand’s shot hit Taylor Hall. Eeli Tolvanen picked up the loose puck where in the slot, he twisted around to throw a wrist shot on Ullmark that beat him up high, ringing inside post-to-post and then coming out of the net. 2-0 Kraken.

Third period:

The Kraken solidified the win when Jaden Schwartz scored an empty-net goal at 18:10 of the third period. Final score: 3-0 Kraken.

Game notes:

• Well, it had to happen at some point. The Bruins went 22 home games before a regulation loss.
• Head Coach Jim Montgomery felt the B’s were fatigued. Whatever it was — a few days off, coming off the California road trip, etc., etc. — they were slower to the puck than the Kraken and couldn’t match their speed. The Bruins were outskated for the first time in a while, losing puck races and not able to counter the Kraken’s transition game.
• Montgomery said postgame he felt his team had guys wide open at times, but weren’t seeing plays. He thought they were a few seconds too late on decision making and lagged behind.
• The Kraken also dominated in the offensive zone and the shot count over the Bruins in the first and second period, really through the first 35 minutes of play. The Bruins picked up their production in the second’s final five minutes, but until that point, only had 12 shots on net.
• Although they lost, it was a win for Joona Koppanen who made his NHL debut. On top of it, Montgomery gave him the opening face-off of the game. Koppanen had 8:50 TOI and helped kill off some shorthanded time.
• The Bruins found themselves shorthanded three times and only had one power play tonight. They were able to hold off the Kraken and limited their chances to only three combined shots on three power plays. Ullmark also came up big on the PK.
• Ullmark was arguably the Bruins’ best player tonight. He made 28 saves on 30 shots. Some highlights included back-to-back saves of Schwartz and Jamie Oleksiak and then multiple fast stops on Schwartz on rebound attempts.
• While the Bruins are usually a strong third period team, there wasn’t a sense of urgency out there. To create some spark, Ullmark was pulled with five minutes left in an aggressive attempt to at least add a tally to have a shot of forcing at least overtime. Taylor Hall lost control of the puck out front when he nearly had Martin Jones beat. Hall also sent a pass over to David Pastrnak who missed the net. It was just one of those nights of shots going wide and not enough finish.
• The Bruins are back in action on Saturday, Jan. 14, at 7 p.m. against the Toronto Maple Leafs.