Pulled from last Saturday’s game against the Ottawa Senators after surrendering three goals on just 12 shots, goaltender Tuukka Rask’s return to Boston ice didn’t bring about the bounceback performance that he or the Bruins wanted or expected. The 26-year-old Rask, in his final game of the 2013 calendar year, stopped just 26 of 31 as the B’s fell to the New York Islanders, 5-3.
Boston started the night off strong, striking 4:25 into the first period behind David Krejci’s ninth goal of the season. Recording his 100th goal in the NHL (all scored with the Bruins), the Czech center’s century marker was the only tangible joy of a first period that saw Boston pummel 13 shots (on 17 attempts) towards New York netminder Evgeni Nabokov.
However, as the ice tilted in the second, New York powered up.
Tying things up behind Frans Nielsen’s power-play marker (his fourth goal in the last seven games), the Bruins regained the lead with two goals in 25 seconds, the first coming off the stick of Patrice Bergeron and then the next coming by way of a Danny Paille defelection.
In a matter of moments, and with two rough penalties (Torey Krug for a board and Milan Lucic for a crosscheck right off the draw), the Bruins let New York back in it.
With Boston back in the box, the Islanders struck, as Nielsen scored another goal on the man-advantage while Kyle Okposo’s marker (off Brad Marchand and in) with three seconds left tied things up at 3-3.
The tie didn’t last long, as Isles’ captain John Tavares gave his club the lead 32 seconds into the third period, and they simply never looked back.
“We still had the final 20 ahead of use and then they got the bounce off Tuukka [Rask] and then we fell behind right away and then they capitalized on another one, on that power play,… B’s captain Zdeno Chara said after the loss. “We had to push more and take some chances and we pretty much opened up a little bit of the game but we didn’t get that goal we needed to make it a one goal game so then we could possibly put a goal in there at the end and try to even out the game.…
While the Black-and-Gold had their chances to tie things up, the story of the third became the Bruins’ utter implosion. From Marchand’s double minor to Lucic’s late-game meltdown that saw him head to the showers early, the B’s frustration with the Isles’ hard hitting forecheck and Nabokov’s outright refusal to give them the equalizer was on full display. “We had a decent game, we had a few opportunities that would have been nice to get back and capitalize on,… Marchand said after the loss, the club’s first two-game losing streak since Oct. 26 to Oct. 30. “They capitalized when they did, it’s just how it goes sometimes. I don’t think we had a bad game though.…
Maybe generalizing it as a bad game isn’t exactly fair, but in a night where the Bruins took a whopping 28 minutes in penalties, the Boston penalty kill was a disaster.
Killing off just four of their eight penalties against -- surrendering four power-play goals for the first time since their last regulation loss on Garden ice back on Oct. 26 (against New Jersey) -- the Bruins penalty killers undoubtedly had a bad game. Whether or not it’s blamed on “bad bounces.…
“They made their own breaks and they made their breaks by getting some good bounces and got themselves back in the game but in the third period, they were the better team, again,… B’s coach Claude Julien admitted after the game. “We lost because I think it was, like you said, probably self-inflicted. We took a lot of ill-advised penalties that at one point caught up to us and I didn’t think our penalty kill obviously was very good tonight.…
Julien’s assessment of what he saw from his shorthanded unit tonight?
“Sloppiness. You guys got your answer.…
Probably the best (and maybe only) way to describe it.
Up next
The Bruins will host the Nashville Predators at the Garden on Thursday night. Crushing the Preds by a 6-2 final behind a three-point night from Ryan Spooner, the Black-and-Gold will look to avoid their first home losing streak of the season.