Bruce Cassidy called the Bruins’ loss Monday night ‘unprofessional.’ Here’s why.
Brad Marchand's blooper became a viral sensation after the Bruins blew a 5-2 lead.
COMMENTARY
The ugly trends came back to bite the Bruins Monday night in Philadelphia.
The starts, again, weren’t an issue in the team’s loss to the Flyers. The Bruins — sparked by a secondary scoring outburst from David Krejci (twice), Charlie Coyle, and Anders Bjork, along with David Pastrnak’s 36th goal of the season — looked primed for their fourth-straight win, boasting a 5-2 lead past the midway point of the second period.
Yet, despite the three-goal lead, the Bruins still looked a little shaky in the defensive end for the first 30-plus minutes. Then they unraveled.
The layers in front of Jaroslav Halak didn’t blossom but instead deteriorated, beginning at 13:12 of the second when Sean Couturier gained easy entry into the zone and tallied his 13th goal of the season. A Connor Bunnaman tip-in for his first career goal just 1:34 later cut Boston’s lead to one.
The Bruins failed to extend their lead in the third period, and their leverage disappeared on a 4-on-4 breakdown leading to Travis Sanheim’s second score of the night with 12:58 remaining.
The game would end up being decided by a shootout, and ended in rather fitting fashion with Travis Konecny’s lone goal and Brad Marchand’s blooper-real attempt.
“We had no will to keep the puck out of our net on the last three goals. That’s been a staple of our team for years,” Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy told NESN’s Jack Edwards and Andy Brickley following Boston’s 5-4 loss. “Let’s hope it’s just a one-off because it was unprofessional the way we performed in front of the net for the last three goals.”
Here’s what we learned as Boston’s shootout struggles continued following their collapse at Wells Fargo Center.
Brad Marchand’s gaffe exemplifies Boston’s lack of shootout success.
It’s a moment that Marchand will want to forget.
Marchand came to center ice in the fifth round of the shootout looking to extend things to Round 6. He strode toward the puck hoping to gain a little speed en route to his attempt. Instead, Marchand overskated the puck in one of the worst shootout attempts of all time.
“It’s unfortunate,” Marchand told reporters. “It’s a tough way to lose in a game like that, but we have to be better when we have the lead.”
Marchand’s blooper perfectly exemplifies Boston’s shootout woes. The Bruins, who dropped to 0-7 in shootout decisions, failed to score in any of their five chances Monday. They’re a woeful 4-for-30 in shootout attempts this season.
The Bruins now have no one to blame but themselves, as they sit a point behind the Capitals, who earned a 2-0 win over the Hurricanes on Monday, for first place in the Eastern Conference.
Bruins lose after Brad Marchand has the worst shootout try in the history of the sport pic.twitter.com/x9IVt4eDgG
— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) January 14, 2020
The troubling trend with multi-goal leads.
The Bruins have prided themselves on closing out games in the third period, especially when leading by more than one goal. But they’ve deviated from that successful formula at times, which Monday once again proved.
Whether it’s blowing a 4-0 lead to the Panthers in early November or ending 2019 with a New Year’s Eve shootout loss to the lowly Devils after leading 2-0, the Bruins have lacked a killer instinct when they needed it the most.
It’s hurting them in the standings, too. The Bruins could be sitting comfortably atop the East, yet have to settle for only one point each game they relinquish a multi-goal lead.
They won’t have to worry about the shootout come playoff time, but the Bruins need to close games out in these situations. The last thing they want to do is carry this trait into April.
Hustle hard. #BOSvsPHI | #NowOrNever pic.twitter.com/Lh8qSABA4R
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) January 14, 2020
Jaroslav Halak has looked shaky of late.
Halak rarely had any defensive support in front of him, yet he hardly looked sharp against the Flyers.
The journeyman netminder made 34 saves in the losing effort. Halak made some timely stops late in the third period and during the 3-on-3 overtime, but he hasn’t looked like the calm, cool, and collected man between the pipes over the last three games.
Halak’s recent rough stretch began last week when he allowed three goals on 25 shots in the Bruins’ 4-1 loss to Connor McDavid and the Oilers. David Pastrnak and Jake DeBrusk bailed Halak out in his next start against the Winnipeg Jets, a 5-4 victory, after he allowed four goals on 21 shots.
The defensive breakdowns were more troublesome, but Halak didn’t do himself any favors either, especially after whiffing on Couturier’s second-period tally.
Halak encountered a similar rut around the same time last season after dropping five straight decisions from Jan. 10 to Feb. 6. He then won nine of his next 11 starts to close out the 2018-19 season.
The Bruins rode the dynamic tandem of Halak and Tuukka Rask to great success over the last year and a half. There’s no reason for them to deviate from that, especially given Halak’s track record to bounce back after a rough stretch however long it may be.
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