It's not quite as dire for the Bruins (18-10-5) this season as the Celtics but make no mistake, they have major issues of their own that need to be addressed or else they'll be fortunate to make the playoffs in 2021 where they would be promptly knocked out rather quickly. Tonight at the TD Garden, they hosted the Penguins (24-11-2) in the start of a two-game series. The Penguins easily took round one by a score of 4-1 for their fifth win in a row (and their first here since 2015!) as Pittsburgh cut the season series to 3-2 in favor of the B's. Boston never led in this listless performance as the Pens scored twice in the second period to take a 2-0 lead. The Bruins cut it to 2-1 midway through the third period but Pittsburgh answered right back then put in an empty-net goal to clinch it.
With the way that Boston's offense is struggling right now it doesn't take opposing goaltenders much to shut them down. Pittsburgh's goalie Casey DeSmith (30 saves, 9-3-0)-a NH native & UNH product-was solid all night as he won his third straight start. The Bruins have a rough mix right now of young guys who either aren't ready to contribute much yet at this level or maybe they're just not that good to begin with. Adding that to all the overrated and/or floating veterans and you can see why Boston is pretty much locked into the fourth seed in the East Division should they reach the postseason.
After a scoreless first period, the B's got some bad news that defenseman Brandon Carlo (playing in his 2nd game in almost a month after sustaining a concussion) suffered an upper-body injury and wouldn't return to action this evening. The Penguins must have as many college hockey alums on their roster as any other current team in the NHL. Hockey East had a big second period for them as Northeastern's Zach Aston-Reese and BC's Mike Matheson each scored a goal that staked Pittsburgh to a 2-0 lead which against Boston might as well be 5-0. Aston-Reese took a great feed from PC's Brandon Tanev to redirect it in at 2:01. Center Frederick Gaudreau (any relation to Johnny?) had the other assist on Aston-Reese's eighth goal of the season. Matheson's was more of an outstanding individual play as he used his speed to get around the Bruins defense and beat rookie goaltender Dan Vladar (19 saves, 2-1-0) for the 2-0 lead. Center Anthony Angello and defenseman Cody Ceci provided the helpers on his third goal of the season that came at 13:02.
Left wing Brad Marchand has been one of the only Bruins forwards lately that has had any consistent jump in his game. That's why it figured that he would score their only goal. He roofed a wrist shot by DeSmith for his 14th goal of the season (tied with David Pastrnak for the team lead) at 11:14 of the third period. Center Patrice Bergeron and defenseman Jakub Zboril notched the assists on that lone highlight of the game for the Bruins. Less than two minutes later after a weak turnover by Pasta in the neutral zone, left wing Jason Zucker finished a beautiful pass from BU's Evan Rodrigues and defenseman Marcus Pettersson. His fifth goal of the season was at 13:07 and it served as a kind of backbreaker to the home team. Left wing Jake Guentzel padded his stats with an empty-netter-his 15th goal of the season at 17:51 for a 4-1 margin. Some guys named Kris Letang and Sidney Crosby happened to have the assists on that final tally.
These same teams will practice tomorrow in the city: the Bruins will be at Warrior Ice Arena and the Penguins who knows, maybe at BU (where their head coach Mike Sullivan used to coach) before they play again on Saturday afternoon (1, NESN). If Tuukka Rask is still unavailable, it'll be Jaroslav Halak in net for the B's. Through injuries, illnesses and slumps, Boston head coach Bruce Cassidy has had to constantly shuffle his lineup and I don't expect the matinee to be any different in that regard. Center Sean Kuraly and left wing Jake DeBrusk were skating at practice the last few days so perhaps they can finally return from their bouts with Covid-19. The Bruins are 2-2-1 on this seven-game homestand that feels pretty pivotal in their season.
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