Too little too late as Bruins’ latest comeback bid falls short
In the second straight matinee, the Boston Bruins defeated the Detroit Red Wings.
Once again, the Bruins faced a 2-0 hole on a power play and a shorthanded marker. This time, they couldn’t overcome the early errors in Alex Chiasson’s powerplay rebound in the first half and Mortiz Seider’s undermanned breakaway in the second.
Trailing 4-0 after a rebound from Adam Erne and a power play blast from Dylan Larkin, Jim Montgomery switched to experimental mode. His lineup changes included former Red Wing Tyler Bertuzzi joining Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron at the helm; a third trio with Jake DeBrusk, Charlie Coyle and Trent Frederic; and Pavel Zacha, David Krejci and Pastrnak meet again on the Czech line.
Once again, the Bruins didn’t give up. With 10 minutes between the second and third periods, Boston turned a four-goal deficit into a one-goal game.
Matt Grzelcyk’s snipe on Pastrnak’s stout feed at 16:52 midframe got Boston going.
A breakaway marker by DeBrusk at 3:37 of the third and a snap by Pastrnak 2:47 later had cut Detroit’s lead to 4-3.
The best third division team in the league almost pulled another comeback out of a hat. The Bruins created multiple chances for equalization late in regulation – both primary and secondary.
But Montgomery’s club couldn’t quite end their latest bid. Andrew Copp sealed Detroit’s 5-3 win with his off-net goal.
“I think we were very lackluster with our performance in the first two halves,” Montgomery told NESN’s Jack Edwards and Andy Brickley. “It was nice to see we had a good 4-1 deficit [after two periods] and make a game out of it, but it was too little, too late.”
Here’s what we learned when the league-leading Bruins dropped their 10th decision in regulation.
Special teams did not recover this time.
During Saturday’s rally, the Bruins showed a bit of Jekyll and Hyde on the power play.
Copp’s early shorthanded breakaway marker on Krejci’s blue line feed was one of the lowlights of Boston’s long power play slide. But the primary unit rallied in the second and scored a needed equalizer when Bergeron tapped DeBrusk’s feed.
The power play was not on the spot a day later. Aside from a couple of solid chances on their second attempt at midframe, they once again struggled to pull off good looks against Ville Husso.
Once again, recent power play struggles reared their ugly head after Seider stole a stagnant Pastrnak at the blue line en route to his breakaway.
The normally reliable penalty with a returning Derek Forbort also struggled for the second game in a row. With a crisp puck move, the Red Wings scored two goals with man advantage to round out a 3-on-5 weekend.
Maybe this is just a blip for Boston’s PK. Sunday marked only the fifth time all season that the league’s leading penalty allowed multiple goals in a game.
The protracted struggles of the power game remain a problem. The Bruins have too much talent to let these problems linger.
Despite some progress during Dmitry Orlov’s initial stint in the top unit, improving man advantage remains one of Boston’s top priorities with 17 games remaining in the regular season.
Pastrnak’s turnovers come with territory.
At times the hub can get frustrated with the dynamic Pastrnak and his league-leading 91 freebies. But with his cunning playmaking skills, he can turn head-scratching turnovers into highlight reel games.
A case in point was Pastrnak’s error on Sunday’s power play. Instead of moving the puck deep while standing still on the blue line, Pastrnak eventually lost possession on Seider’s assertive forecheck. Seconds later, the Bruins conceded their second underman goal of the weekend.
In the midst of a tough outing, Pastrnak turned a negative into a positive. The Bruins showed life after Pastrnak found Grzelcyk, who ran from the far wall into the faceoff point to score Boston’s first goal.
Due to his concerns about losing possession, Pastrnak remains a goal threat if he touches the puck on offense. His quick shot delivery can change the momentum at any moment, as was the case with his 46th goal of the season to cut Detroit’s lead to 4-3 early in the final stanza.
Pastrnak generated several chances to equalize. Using his patented one-timer from the left faceoff circle, he almost added another near the end of the third but just couldn’t get another puck past Husso.
The newly signed $11 million man earned his big payday. As Boston’s top scorer in recent memory, his impressive attacking play can erase any self-inflicted error.
Lindholm sits as a back end, avoiding injury fears.
Those who viewed the Bruins’ Twitter account ahead of Sunday’s tilt at Motown likely saw the clip of Hampus Lindholm arriving with his teammates in a hiking boot.
Montgomery calmed any fears the Boston fanbase had about Lindholm during his pregame press conference. While confirming that Lindholm was out with a foot problem, Montgomery quickly braced himself for a favorable prognosis for the second game of the road trip.
“Blocked a shot yesterday and his foot is swollen so I won’t be playing [Lindholm] today,” Montgomery told reporters. “He will play [Tuesday] in Chicago.”
Without Lindholm, the Bruins could hardly afford another defensive injury, even in the short term.
Brandon Carlo briefly left the tilt on Sunday after colliding on the boards almost two minutes later after a timely backcheck on Joe Veleno’s breakaway attempt against Jeremy Swayman. The seventh-year defenseman barely missed a shift and returned a minute or two later alongside Orlov in Boston’s second defensive pairing.
Barring any last-minute developments with Lindholm, the Bruins will once again continue their defensive rotation against the bottom-feeding Blackhawks. Given their impeccable depth in the backend, they might take a similarly cautious approach to Carlo.
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