In sports, there aren't many worse combinations than being dull to watch and also not very successful overall as a team or player. We just suffered through such a season this past fall with the Patriots (7-9) who stunk and made it tough to view all of their torturous games. We are only three outings into the season for the Bruins (1-1-1), so I'm going to try my best not to overreact-especially when their most gifted goal-scorer (David Pastrnak) by far is still out and recovering from off-season hip surgery-but man, this has already been a slog in less than a week of action. After a shootout win in their opener at the Devils (1-0-1) followed by an overtime loss to New Jersey, they concluded their road trip tonight at Nassau Coliseum with a brutal 1-0 loss to the Islanders (2-1).
You've probably heard this a couple times but I'll keep harping on it until it changes: Boston still has not scored an even-strength goal in nine periods plus nearly two full overtime sessions. It's the first time since March 2007 (the brief Dave Lewis era!) that they have gone three games in a row without a 5-on-5 marker. After two power play goals in the first contest followed by a shorthanded tally in the rematch, they bottomed out on Martin Luther King Day as Islanders goalie Semyon Varlamov (27 saves) set a new franchise record with back-to-back shutouts to start his 2021 campaign. The shots on goal total doesn't look that bad, after all they had 10 more than the Isles, but only a few of them even tested Varlamov at all. Boston had entered this tilt 18-2-1 in their last 21 road games against New York and with the win, the Islanders snapped a 10-game home losing streak to their temporary divisional foe.
The only Bruin that deserved a little better fate from this forgettable matchup was goaltender Tuukka Rask (16 saves) who lost his first game of this pressure-packed contract year. Boston seems to give up a breakaway every game these days and while he was equal to that, he couldn't stop a stellar individual piece of skill by center Jean-Gabriel Pageau. This had all the excitement of a scoreless soccer game (Liverpool-Manchester United yesterday?) until the former Senator batted the puck out of mid-air after defenseman Adam Pelech's shot deflected off Bruins center Patrice Bergeron's stick. Fellow defenseman Ryan Pulock had the other assist on Pageau's first goal of the season at 15:51 of the third period.
A one-goal deficit for the Bruins with that little time left in regulation feels like a three-goal or four-goal lead with the way that they are finding it impossible to find the back of the net. They pulled Rask at the end for an extra skater but you knew that it would not matter one bit. Their power play went 0-for-3 but their penalty kill was 5-for-5 (a flawless 13-for-13 this season) so it was a mixed bag for Boston's typically solid special teams. Wasting over two hours of our collective lives watching this terrible product was annoying enough but the loss felt like a punch to the gut coupled with the fact that the B's potentially face a serious injury to another key player. Defenseman Matt Grzelcyk (who was called for interference) got tangled up with winger Jordan Eberle (who was called for tripping) early in the third period and he fell down awkwardly to the ice. It was impossible to tell what he hurt (hand, arm, wrist, ribs, oblique, groin?) but it was clearly serious since he never returned to play and head coach Bruce Cassidy didn't have any update after the game which tends to be a sign that it's more than a usual bump or bruise. Ugh.
The best thing for this team is that they return home and get a day off tomorrow to recharge their batteries and figure out how they can produce more offensively. Boston's next four games are all at TD Garden: two against Philadelphia (2-1-0) begin on Thursday (7, NESN) followed by two vs. Pittsburgh (1-2-0) starting next Tuesday. The Bruins' next road game is not until January 30 when they travel to DC to face the Capitals (2-0-1) and their first reunion with former B's captain Zdeno Chara. I have no idea when Pasta is returning but it's not soon enough. Jake DeBrusk was the latest black hole that got a one-game audition on the top line with Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron and while he was better than rookie Jack Studnicka and Anders Bjork, that is not saying much. Regardless, the Flyers and Penguins are both known to play a more exciting brand of hockey than the Devils and Islanders so maybe that will inject some energy into Boston's currently lifeless skates.
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