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Bruins earn good 'loser point' in Colorado |
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Ty Anderson
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Not all ‘loser points’ are created equal.
In fact, the point banked away by the Bruins in Monday’s shootout loss to the Avalanche at Denver’s Ball Arena is something that dare I say the Bruins should almost feel good about earning.
Matched up against the speedier and more skillful Avalanche, the Bruins erased two separate deficits in regulation, and even survived a late-game penalty kill to send this game to overtime. (It was one of six trips to the kill the Bruins made throughout the night, and without defenseman and penalty-killing rock Brandon Carlo available to the club for the third period and overtime.)
The Avs should’ve ended things on that late-game power-play opportunity, too, if we’re being honest. Cale Makar was set up for a beauty of a one-time bomb from about eight feet out with just over two minutes remaining in regulation. It didn’t go. And then Nathan MacKinnon found himself alone in front of the Boston net about 30 seconds later.
How many teams out there can survive two close calls with talents like that?
Of course, on the other side of the coin, the Bruins did let an overtime power-play opportunity slip through their fingers. That was absolutely the B’s best chance to put the Avalanche to bed, and despite countless looks, the Bruins did not capitalize on their chances as well as they should have, with two frustrating ‘force’ plays from David Pastrnak that led to clears from the Avs.
But to get there in the first place, the Bruins did their job about as well as you could have hoped.
Led by Jeremy SwaymanBrad Marchand, who scored two goals on two shots in this contest, including the Black and Gold’s game-tying third period tally.
In addition to the loss, the Bruins also saw their recent scoring surge come to an end, as the Bruins scored ‘just’ three goals in the loss. That put an end to what was a six-game stretch of at least four goals for Boston, which was their longest such run on that front since Nov. 2011.
B’s lose Brandon Carlo to upper-body injury
The worst news for the Bruins in this one came with the aforementioned loss of Brandon Carlo to an apparent upper-body injury. It’s a bit unclear what happened to Carlo, at least when you rewatch his last few shifts, but if you want a potentially bad sign (who ever wants one of those?), the Bruins were pretty quick to rule Carlo out for the remainder of the evening shortly into the second intermission.
After the game, Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery had little to offer on Carlo’s status moving forward, saying that they do not know the extent of the injury just yet.
Boston’s go-to D-zone defenseman, the 27-year-old Carlo has recorded two goals and 10 points, along with a plus-15, in 39 games with the B’s this season. The 6-foot-5 Carlo, who was making a homecoming Monday in Colorado, has also chipped in with 71 blocks and 51 hits.
The Bruins have Mason Lohrei with them as the extra D-man on this trip.
Everything else
- Have to love the response from Johnny Beecher in this one. Deployed for under seven minutes against the Penguins last Thursday and scratched on Saturday, Beecher got a chance to redeem himself Monday night in Colorado, and did exactly that, with a goal and wins in seven of his nine battles at the dot. That’s huge. You want to see that down the stretch.
- Three straight games of at least four blocks for Parker Wotherspoon, by the way. Definitely an unheralded type — I remember being a little surprised how long he lasted in the team’s main training camp — but he has repeatedly stepped up for this team. Nothing fancy. Nothing thrilling. Just getting the job done when the team needs it. Huge boost right now with Derek Forbort out and players such as Matt Grzelcyk and Hampus Lindholm currently trying to find their A-level game.
- God, Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar is just an absolute freak. And I mean that in the best way possible. Not sure I’ve ever seen a post-2005 defenseman have the single-game impact this guy has, end-to-end, and in the blink of an eye. Look at how he almost single handedly killed Boston’s overtime power-play opportunity and even turned it into a prime scoring chance for his club. Special, special talent. (But you already knew all of that, I hope.)
Up next: The Bruins are back in action Tuesday night against the Coyotes. The Bruins handled the Coyotes when the teams met up in Boston back on Dec. 9.
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.
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