|
Bruins' mistakes doom them in loss to Rangers |
|
|
 |
Ty Anderson
 Boston Bruins Blogger •Bruins Feature Columnist • RSS
• Archive
• CONTACT
|
|
|
Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery kept it short and not-so-sweet when discussing his team’s 5-2 loss to the Rangers on Thursday night.
“They checked really well, [and] I don’t think we checked well enough,” Montgomery said following his club’s 5-2 defeat, which included three straight unanswered goals. “I don’t think
we competed hard enough on pucks.”
For Boston, the loss included some comedy of errors-type stuff.
On New York’s first goal, the Bruins’ Danton Heinen whiffed on a puck and unintentionally sent a drop-back pass to the slot for Artemi Panarin’s squeaker through Jeremy Swayman. And on the Rangers’ second goal of the evening, Kevin Shattenkirk fed a woeful pass to Hampus Lindholm, where Alex Wennberg pressured him from behind into a turnover behind the Boston net, while Jake DeBrusk came through with the coup de grace of a sliding block that bounced off him and into the Boston net.
Even on the Adam Fox goal that made it 3-2 for the Blueshirts a mere 40 seconds after the Bruins had tied things up at 2-2 in the third period, it was a broken play that had the B’s scrambling while Swayman was probably cheating a bit too much expecting a potential pass.
Meanwhile, at the other end of the rink, the Bruins didn't do much against the Rangers' Jonathan Quick. In fact, they were credited with just four high-danger chances at five-on-five (per Natural Stat Trick), which was tied for their second-fewest in any game this season.
“I don’t think it’s a reflection of [New York’s] defense,” Montgomery said when discussing his team’s inability to generate much. “[We] should be able to gain middle ice a lot. We just weren’t attacking it.
“They did a real good job checking and we didn’t do a good job getting through their layers and fighting through it."
Justin Brazeau continues to find scoresheet
If you’d like a positive from this one, it’s with the continued success of bottom-six winger Justin Brazeau, who factored in on both of the B’s goals in this one, with a secondary helper on Jake DeBrusk’s first-period power-play goal and a net-front finish on the Black and Gold’s third-period strike that knotted things up at 2-2.
Overall, it was the 6-foot-5 Brazeau’s third goal and fourth point in his last two outings, and brings him up to four goals and six points through 14 NHL games since his sign-and-recall from Providence in January.
When it comes to Brazeau, you simply have to appreciate the way he tends to emerge from battles and scrums with the puck on his stick, and how he’s found a way to successfully use his frame to win battles to extend possession time in the attacking zone. This has been especially noticeable on the B’s second power-play unit, which has been undeniably better than the top unit of late, and with big No. 55 playing a massive role in that success.
Everything else
- And Thursday’s loss ended what was a 12-game point streak (8-0-4) against teams currently inside the playoff structure for the Bruins, with Boston’s last regulation loss against a playoff team before last night coming with a Jan. 24 setback against the Hurricanes.
– A 26-of-29 performance in goal from the Bruins’ Jeremy Swayman dropped Swayman’s post-All-Star break record down to 6-5-1, while his save percentage dipped to .902. The Bruins absolutely did not help their goaltender in this one (on at least two of the three goals, anyway), and perhaps that’s why Montgomery did not have an issue with Swayman’s play postgame, noting that he was fine with Swayman’s performance in the losing effort.
– Make that five goals and 11 points in the last nine games for Jake DeBrusk.
Ty Anderson is a writer and columnist for 985TheSportsHub.com. He has been covering the Bruins since 2010, and has been a member of the Boston chapter of the PHWA since 2013. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group, HockeyBuzz.com or any subsidiaries. Yell at him on Twitter/X: @_TyAnderson.
Join the Discussion:
»