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The Bruins deserved to lose Monday’s head-to-head with the Blue Jackets, so they’ll happily take the point they were able to steal by overcoming a 3-0 deficit en route to a 4-3 shootout loss.
One thing we can say about these Bruins through the first 10 games of the season: When they look ugly, holy cow do they look ugly. They almost reinvent the word, really. And their first period was one of the ugliest things we’ve seen this year, to be honest. Completely overmatched from the jump, the Bruins allowed the Jackets' David Savard to score less than two minutes into the period, and the Jackets later extended the lead to two when Tuukka Rask was unable to cover a loose puck and then slid every which way but the direction of the puck (with some help from Paul Postma’s body, which appeared to knock him loose), and gave Boone Jenner one of the easiest goals you’ll see. By the period’s end, the Bruins had just four shots on goal (that figure was later changed to six, probably out of pity), and absolutely zero scoring chances. Then Tyler Motte, recalled to the Blue Jackets from the AHL earlier in the day, got behind the B’s defense on a bad change and beat Rask for a 3-0 lead. “You just can’t have those starts,… B’s coach Bruce Cassidy said after the loss. “I don’t like to see us start like that. I take a lot of pride in being ready to go, and I thought we weren’t [ready] as a group.… 28 minutes into the game, the Bruins were down by three and beyond dead. But they slowly battled back, and on the backs of their best players. Even the ones that entered play with slow starts and/or struggling. Patrice Bergeron brought them within two before the end of the second period. Then Rask stepped up and stopped Artemi Panarin on a breakaway to keep it a two-goal game. That stop really seemed to change everything for the Bruins, who continued their surge with goals from Torey Krug and Brad Marchand just 1:21 apart to tie things up and straight-up drag the Bruins into overtime.
And when that didn’t solve anything, it was shootout goals from Panarin and Oliver Bjorkstrand that ultimately found a way to sink the Bruins, who went 0-for-2 on their shootout attempts.
Would it have been nice for the Bruins to have taken the extra point? Of course. But much like their situation against the Kings’ hot start to the season, it’s fairly obvious to point out that the Jackets are better than the Bruins, and that they have been dominant in their building dating back to last season. And after they squandered their chance for a second point with that last-second goal allowed to the Kings last Saturday, the Bruins found a way to steal one in Columbus, so this was basically a way of making up for it, if you were being reasonable and realistic to their situation. That means that their point streak extended to five games (2-0-3), and that’s exactly what this team needs, especially when you consider the fact that they’re still without an actual winning streak on the year, and with the Atlantic already looking tighter than ever. This is what doomed them in two straight seasons from 2014 to 2016, and what took until February for the Bruins to figure out a season ago. And nobody knows that better than Cassidy, who admitted that he’ll take the ‘positives’ from this one. Rightfully so, even as losers.
This and that
- The biggest takeaway from this game for me: Torey Krug finding the back of the net with a goal. This was an important one for more than just the obvious, too. Krug has been battling himself hard these last few weeks, and has been struggling to find his confidence. He straight-up smashed the post with a bullet before scoring that goal, but it didn’t shatter what he was doing in this game. He is the most important piece of this defense in terms of what Bruce Cassidy wants to see from his team. (MORE: My WEEI.com column on Torey Krug and the need for him to play his way out of this funk.)
- A move I loved? Replacing Kenny Agostino with Danton Heinen on the first power-play unit. Listen, Agostino has been OK for an AHL fill-in, but he’s seemingly gotten worse with more exposure. Heinen, however, has consistently found ways to impress. I’m also a big fan of Heinen’s decision-making, which is a lot quicker than it was a year ago, as well as his patience with the puck.
- Not the most hard-hitting analysis, I know, but it’s hard not to be a fan of the way that Josh Anderson plays. Massive credit to him for having a go with Zdeno Chara in this game.
Up next
The Bruins return home for a head-to-head with the Golden Knights on Thursday. The good news for the Bruins is that it appears that the Knights are down to No. 4 on their organizational depth chart.
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.