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Reminder: NHL games are 60 minutes long

October 22, 2017, 2:59 PM ET [14 Comments]
Ty Anderson
Boston Bruins Blogger •Bruins Feature Columnist • RSSArchiveCONTACT
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At the very least, the consistently inconsistent Bruins stayed true to form on Saturday night, blowing a three-goal lead en route to a 5-4 overtime loss to the visiting Sabres at TD Garden.

Out to a 3-0 edge just 20:37 into the game behind goals from David Pastrnak and two from Brad Marchand (one was a power-play goal scored one second into the man advantage and the other was a top-shelf snipe scored 37 seconds into the first period), the Bruins skated to a 4-1 edge at one point in the middle frame, but slowly but surely allowed the weary Sabres to battle their way back into play.

“I think they wanted the puck more than we did,” Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy, whose team allowed a late second-period goal from Jack Eichel to cut their lead to two before Benoit Pouliot and Evander Kane third-period goals tied things up, and right before Ryan O’Reilly ended it in overtime, said. “We had a lead two nights ago, four goals. We had two goals in the third. We gave up a couple late in the second but we settled it down and played the way we are supposed to. What we discussed between periods is making smart decisions with the puck, not, get it out at all costs and sort it out from there. I think as it went along, you could see that it’s just hard to reel it back in for whatever reason. Some of it is, the guys aren’t used to being in that position. Some of it could have been the other team is just putting a lot of pressure on you because they’re good and they want to win.

“We weren’t able to temper it, just settle it down and string together string together three or four shifts to sort of get through that. So it gives the other team life and it becomes a vicious cycle. Get it out, change, get it out, change if you can, and you get into scramble mode. Usually at that point, you need someone, or collectively a group to settle it down. We were never able to get to that point.”

But it’s tough to simply go with what you saw and accept it.

The Sabres were in Boston on the second leg of a traveling back-to-back while the Bruins were rested and off the night before. The Bruins were a seemingly confident bunch, especially with Patrice Bergeron back in the mix and with a six-goal outburst in his first game back, while the Sabres were coming to Boston with just four of a possible 16 points banked away out of the gate. The Sabres were also just as injured as you, with some significant injuries on their backend, too.

The Bruins, who have bled points like crazy, simply forgot that this was a 60-minute game.

And that’s tough to stomach.

“I think we didn’t play our game in the third period. We kind of stopped playing and they were all over us, and you know, it’s on us,” Pastrnak said after the defeat. “We were the ones that gave them their point, but the first two periods were good. It’s just another learning session.”

Anton Khudobin, who made 37 saves in the losing effort, could have been better, too.

“That’s even more disappointing, when you’re winning like this and then you’re losing like that,” Khudobin said. “If it would be like, I don’t know, two-to-three, or whatever, that would be more like they played pretty well, and this is much more, I think, disappointing than a regular loss.

“The start was great, and the game was great until we scored the fourth goal, and I think after that, we thought that’s an easy game.”

This and that

- The Bruins really, really missed Adam McQuaid and Kevan Miller in this game. I know that’s something a certain sect of this fanbase will have a hard time admitting, as these two players are better punchlines than they are admired talents, but it’s true. When the Bruins needed a calming shift from their defense corps, it simply wasn’t there. Feel like this game is a different story with at least one of them in action. Instead, you saw Brandon Carlo and Rob O’Gara straight-up swimming.

- The Boston power play is now 5-for-11 since Patrice Bergeron returned to action. It’s simply amazing how much more of the ice No. 37 opens up for the rest of the unit. Kenny Agostino has been a solid fill-in as the half-wall lefty in the absence of Ryan Spooner (groin injury, out four-to-six weeks), too.

- The 31-year-old Khudobin is one hell of an adventure in net, and Saturday was no exception.

“Erratic,” Cassidy said of Khudobin’s game. “He battles. We love that about him. He battled to the end. Certainly made his share of saves. We need to be better in front of him. But there were times that, there were fires that needed to be put out that shouldn’t have been necessary.

“But that happens sometimes.”

Khudobin is 2-0-1 with a .910 save percentage this season.

- David Krejci (upper-body) tried to give it a go, but was ultimately ruled out when he left the pregame warmup early. While not as much of a Doomsday Situation as Bergeron, Krejci would be a straight-up devastating loss for this club if he’s out for any prolonged period of time. This team just isn’t deep enough down the middle. Not in terms of capable of shouldering top-six roles, anyways.

Up next

The Bruins are off until next Thursday, when they take on the Sharks at TD Garden. The Bruins swept last year’s season series with San Jose, with both games coming with Cassidy at the helm, too.

Ty Anderson is the Boston Bruins beat writer for WEEI.com, and has been covering the National Hockey League for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010. He can be heard on the Saturday Skate program on 93.7 WEEI (Boston), and has been part of the Boston Chapter of the PHWA since 2013. Contact him on Twitter or send him an email at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com.
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