The Bruins leave Amalie Arena with a lot of their usual issues still very much unaddressed.
Let’s just get this over with.
1st Period
The Bruins finished the period without a goal, but also critically did not give up a goal!
Anyway let’s get to all the bad stuff.
2nd Period
The Boston Bruins were cursed with a power play. This was bad because it meant that they had to actually do something with the puck. Well, they did…
…It just wasn’t very smart or good. 1-0 Lightning.
Then, as the period wore down, the Lightning managed to get off a major league into their end, and oh my days and stars; this shot was a bad one to allow in.
Another goal given up in the vulnerable final minute; this time to Michael Eyssimont. 2-0 Lightning.
Onto the 3rd.
3rd Period
Things actually seemed to be looking up for the Bruins, as quite early on in the period Boston found a way to get Mason Lohrei to put home a wonderful shot that featured some slick skating to find the opening for a shot!
This recap would’ve had a much, much longer section about this man had he not done gone and done this. 2-1 Lightning.
Unfortunately…that would be the only Bruins goal scored tonight, as they tried and tried and tried and couldn’t quite get past Andrei Vasilievskiy a second time; pulling the goalie…
…to predictable results. 3-1 Lightning. With that, the Bruins limped their way to the locker roo-what do you mean there was a penalty they had to kill oh god oh come on guys-
Bruins lose 4-1.
Game Notes
- I think the worst part about this whole mess of a game is that for a good long time it was closer than the score suggested. Sure, most of the same problems of creating or capitalizing on chances remained the same, and that’s still very much a problem, but for about 25 minutes, they were able to keep up with the Lightning. Then the power play got a chance to show up on the ice and once again gave up a short-handed goal and failed to capitalize with the time they had left. It was like the minute that happened all the air in the game was squeezed out for Boston, and the 2nd goal all but sealed it. Turnovers, bad passing, failing to gain position on just about anybody in a Blue sweater in net-front battles except for the specific scenario that had Lohrei score…it was just so deflating to see them seemingly begin to build a strong effort and then watch it dribble it down their legs.
- The officiating was rough in this game; highlighted by Pavel Zacha’s ““““embellishment”””” call, but the rest of the game featured plenty of silly calls that both sides can say with earnestness that they didn’t deserve. Kelly Sutherland sure knows how to make the game all about himself, eh?
- Mason Lohrei. Oh Mason Lohrei. We really got the complete experience of him tonight; the sole goalscorer on an honestly exceptional play in the offensive zone…and also the man who was either partly or directly responsible for two going the other way. At this point I really feel as though the fact that his defensive awareness and play recognition are so far behind what it’s supposed to be and still finds about 18 minutes of playtime is both kind of funny and unbelievably frustrating. I’m not letting the rest of the defense off the hook in this one either; they were slooooow tonight. Even for a team that’s been struggling a lot about team speed, the Lightning were able to blow straight past them on multiple occasions. Lohrei’s game was just a bit more noticeable than
- Also not a great night for the top six, but at this point I feel like that’s just kind of par for the course if the other team knows what to do; they can just isolate Pasta and Marchand and dare the other two players on their line to try and do something.
- Jeremy Swayman finished the night with a .900 SV%. Had they not given up a goal late, it probably would’ve been yet another .920-ish SV% the Bruins wasted. At least now everybody can be at fault instead of just the gaggle of cardio merchants out in front of him.
- Mark Kastelic got hurt very late in the game after all hell broke loose, and if he’s hurt for any length of time I’m really not gonna like what happens to our Gamethreads; this dude’s been an engaged and entertaining player all year and they really can’t afford another long injury to someone who’s been all the way good.
- With this loss the Bruins have dropped out of 3rd in the Atlantic, have lost six in a row for the first time in over a decade and are now a mere point behind the Blue Jackets and Penguins. You’d better show up against Florida because both of those team’s schedules are a lot more winnable than that.
Speaking of which, the Bruins get to face their new best friends forever* in the Florida Panthers on Saturday. That game drops the puck at 1pm EST in Sunrise.
We’ll see you there. Let’s see if they can pull out of this dive.
* = I can’t use Sarcasm font in Chorus.