Boston forward Reilly Smith capitalized on a turnover, stormed into the Vancouver zone, and beat Roberto Luongo for his ninth goal of the season. Enough to bring the Bruins and Canucks to a 1-1 tie just over 24 minutes into play, it was also enough of a breakdown for John Tortorella to use his timeout and scream at his team so loud that his entire head turned red.

The message, as displayed by David Booth’s goal less than two minutes later and then reinforced by Chris Higgins’ marker three minutes after, was received. And with an opportunity to go a perfect four-for-four on their Canadian road swing, the Bruins were simply trounced by a Canucks squad playing at their absolute best here in December.

Skating off on the wrong side of a 6-2 loss, with Smith accounting for both of Boston’s goals, the Black-and-Gold were finally burned by the trademark of the swing -- an incomplete effort.

In the first period, the Bruins kept up with the Canucks while Tuukka Rask was the victim of a 75 mph knucklepuck goal from center ice from Jannik Hansen. But in the second and third period, Rask and the Bruins were just bullied all around the ice by Vancouver. The Bruins weren’t winning any of the one-on-one battles along the wall. They weren’t controlling the pace of play.

It was a game where the 26-year-old Rask allowed Yannick Weber to score on him.

(Hey, good luck sleeping after that one.)

You’ve already heard the excuses/rationalization behind last night’s beatdown, too.

Rask was battling the flu, the club is without a significant number of their lineup’s regulars, it was the final leg of the road trip, yadda yadda yadda. No matter how you choose to slice or spin it, the Bruins weren’t anywhere near where they were supposed to be given the importance of last night’s game.

And no, I’m not talking about last night putting the Bruins in the Canucks’ building for the first time since their Game 7 win back in 2011. It was, y’know, a real opponent for the Bruins.

You can sleepwalk through a game against Calgary and Edmonton -- which they did -- and win. They’re not overly impressive clubs throughout their lineup, and you should win those contests based on your team’s structure alone. Again, they did just that. But Vancouver? The Canucks are a legitimate threat in the Western Conference, and like a game against St. Louis or San Jose, this one had the chance to be a statement for the B’s.

Facts are facts, and right now the Bruins are an incomplete club. They can’t use injuries and suspensions are a crutch when it comes to any loss they’re dealt though. It’s not a good look. From here on out, the Bruins’ December opponents have a combined 58 wins in 166 games. So hey, sweep the rest of the month and you’ve proved that you’re a team that can beat up on lesser clubs.

We already knew that.

It’s games like last night’s battle in Van City that present Boston with the opportunity to put a stamp on the league and put their skates down as an elite team. An opportunity they missed.

Marchand ‘trolls’ Canucks with team down by three

There’s a reason why the 5-foot-9 Brad Marchand is adored in Boston, but hated by fans in 29 other cities. He’s an agitator that can get under the skin of the opponent, and often use it to his advantage in the attacking zone in the form of a penalty, assist, or goal.

But what the 25-year-old did last night with his team down by three goals was just flat out dumb.

In the second period, Marchand pantomimed a kiss to his Stanley Cup ring to the Sedins. The Bruins were still in the game then. But with the Bruins down by three and Marchand heading back to his bench, his raised an invisible Cup to the roof and gave some words to the Vancouver bench.

Come on.

You can taunt all you want when things are going your way, but when they’re not (and they certainly weren’t last night and haven’t for Marchand in 2013-14), it’s probably best to leave that stuff at home.

In 2011, the Boston Bruins did defeat the Vancouver Canucks in the Stanley Cup Final. They did in seven games, and they lifted the Cup on British Columbian ice. But hey, it’s 2013 now, and with both the Canucks and Bruins sporting considerably different rosters in the present, Marchand’s taunts came off as unnecessary and actually detrimental to his game.

“Obviously, no class,” Ryan Kesler said of Marchand after the game.

Obviously, no sense of what the scoreboard said either.

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