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The Boston Bruins took a step back as the Pittsburgh Penguins handed them a 2-1 loss on Friday at the TD Garden.
“Our execution seemed to be a little bit off at times,” interim Head Coach Joe Sacco said. “Then, you know, we just had a couple of missed assignments.”
The Bruins scored early in the first period, 1:24 to be exact, as Charlie Coyle capitalized on a strong shift by his line, but that would be it for the night for any 5v5 success or any structured offense.
“It’s what you do after that,” Coyle said. “I don’t think anyone can say they liked how we played after that. It was like we kind of changed up our game.”
The Bruins’ structure began to crumble in the second period, with some careless puck management, turnovers and lack of execution to finish chances.
Against a team who gives up the most goals per game, the Bruins struggled on even strength and allowed the Penguins to find life when they were careless with the puck.
A late — very late — second-period goal felt overdue from the Penguins who scored on their 26th shot of the night as Rickard Rakell evened the game. It was yet another late-period goal allowed by the Bruins.
While Jeremy Swayman overall had a strong performance, his defense wasn’t as sound as it had been through the first four games under interim Joe Sacco’s helm. But that goes without saying the offense wasn’t there either.
Despite having 32 shots on net, the Bruins didn’t have as many scoring chances as the Penguins. And when they were shooting, there was no finish on plays as the “net-front” mentality was missing tonight.
Philip Tomasino netted the go-ahead goal for the Penguins after a defensive-zone breakdown.
The Bruins went 0 for 3 on the power play during the night and were unable to capitalize in the third period to even the game.
As was the story throughout the 60 minutes, with time ticking down, first Erik Karlsson made a huge block on Morgan Geekie. Then David Pastrnak fired a blast on net, but no one out front was able to pick up its rebound. Final score: 2-1 Penguins.
Here are the highlights:
First period:
Capitalizing on a misplay by Penguins’ defense at the blue line, Johnson picked up the puck and off the rush sent it over to Trent Frederic entering the offensive zone. Frederic hit Charlie Coyle with a cross-ice pass for him to then put a wrist shot past Tristan Jarry’s glove at 1:24 of the first period. 1-0 Bruins.
Second period:
With 00.8 seconds left in the second period, Sidney Crosby wrapped the puck around the net to find Rickard Rakell unattended out front for a quick shot past Jeremy Swayman. 1-1 game.
Third period:
With a give-and-go, Tomasino gave a short pass to Evgeni Malkin along the boards. Tomasino skated into the left-wing circle for Malkin to give him a pass back and throw a wrist shot low past Swayman’s left skate. Final score: 2-1 Penguins.
Game notes
- It looked as though the Bruins’ offense was going to break through on Wednesday after putting up six goals. But tonight, it was another one-goal tally from the B’s. In five of their last six games, the Bruins are 1-2-0 when scoring one goal and are 1-1-0 when scoring two goals.
- And the Bruins’ power play didn’t help the cause. On three man-advantages, the Bruins only had four shots on net.
- Sacco talked postgame about how his team is getting chances, but are lacking execution on rebounds and picking up loose pucks around the net. Sacco said: “It’s a situation where the puck is just not finding its way in the net. We had our chances tonight again. But you have to execute still at a higher level in order to finish out your plays…Overall it was a game where I thought I didn’t think we were at our best at times.”
- The one-goal game had the Bruins playing a tight checking game, Sacco said. “We got caught up in a little bit of a game that we probably shouldn’t play, it’s not to our strength,” he said. “I think we play to our best when we are checking. When we are tight through the neutral zone, when we are stiff in our own end…it slipped a little bit for us tonight, that part of our game.
- The Bruins’ woes of giving up late-period goals has continued and it’s still as frustrating as ever. And it’s the second game in a row giving up a second-period goal in the final seconds.
- The Bruins will be back in action on Sunday when the Montreal Canadiens come to town for the Centennial Game. The ceremony begins at 3 p.m. with puck drop slated for 4:15 p.m. Those in attendance are encouraged to be in their seats by 2:45 p.m.