Maybe the Bruins deserved better than the one point they picked up in an exciting overtime loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs Saturday night in Toronto.
Frederik Andersen’s 34 saves, and a few breakdowns in the Bruins end served as the difference between picking up the second point, and their second straight loss.
With the overtime loss, the Bruins have earned at least a point in all but one contest. Their recipe in those contests had been their top line paving the way, excellent execution on the power play and top notch goaltending between the pipes.
However, Saturday was a different story.
The Bruins finally got some secondary scoring, the power play scored just once and Jaroslav Halak was meh in the overtime loss.
“I thought on the offensive side of the puck we were very good, defensively we had some breakdowns. But their goalie was better than ours tonight, and we’ve seen that go the other way early in the year,” head coach Bruce Cassidy told NESN following the contest.
“Unfortunately we didn’t get two points tonight, we got one.”
Despite earning just one point in an important early season divisional game, there were a few positives to come from the loss.
Secondary scoring!
After one of his better games in Thursday’s shootout loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning, Jake DeBrusk picked up where he left off in the first period against the Leafs. And finally, he was able to find the back of the net.
“Jake was around the puck a lot and he could have had more than one if he’d had a little luck. It’s what we want to see even if the puck isn’t going in. It’s the maturity thing where you keep pushing and you keep doing the right things to get rewarded, and you saw that tonight. We know how he can get with the streakiness and the puck was finding him tonight. So maybe it’s one of those runs, so it’s good to see with him.”
As Cassidy alluded too, DeBrusk has been a streaky goal scorer in his career, where goals usually come in bunches.
“Obviously it felt good to get on the board,” said DeBrusk. “Definitely a monkey off my back though. Felt like I was playing a lot too. Even though I scored late in the first there, I think that definitely helps my game, definitely helps relax certain things.”
It was also nice to see the Bruins score on the power play with someone other than the Bruins big three as Danton Heinen picked up his second goal of the season.
Lastly, the Bruins put together a solid second period, despite failing to cash in on any of their chances. With the middle frame being an issue for the Bruins, to see them put together a strong effort in the stanza is an encouraging sign.
"I think second periods are big for us," said defenseman Charlie McAvoy. "For every team it's a chance to play fast, play with transition. I thought we changed well in the second, we really didn't give up much at all. But especially on our changes, we changed well, we transitioned fast, and put pressure on them.”
In the second period the Bruins held the advantage in shot attempts 29-8, shots 15-3 and high-danger chances for 6-1.
The Bruins will have the chance to build off those positives for the second leg of their home-and-home with the Maple Leafs Tuesday night at TD Garden.
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