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Six months ago, the Boston Bruins were able to toss the Detroit Red Wings out of the first round of the playoffs behind a stellar five-game performance from goaltender
Tuukka Rask. The 27-year-old put up a brick wall against the Wings’ kids and vets alike, and really helped mask a rather limited B’s attack.
Well, while Rask stood tall once again in his first showing against the Wings since that round one dominance, it was an all-around nightmare in front of him that crushed the Black and Gold’s hope for two points on Thursday night, as Detroit topped the Bruins by a 2-1 final at Joe Louis Arena.
Let’s take Rask out of the equation for a minute here, though, just for the sake of the conversation. Rask aside, how would you describe the B’s play tonight? Well, for one-- disorganized. Lethargic, even. (Second leg of a back-to-back or not, the fact that we’re using that word to describe their play is a huge problem when you’re just two games into the season.) The Bruins couldn’t match Detroit’s puck-possession, consistently blew their defensive assignments, and sleepwalked for 58 minutes before generating some momentum.
And it all started with a crummy second period. This is familiar. This is last year.
For what it’s worth, the Bruins had a rough second period in their first game of the year, too.
But in their second game of the season, my goodness did their game jump off a cliff in the second period.
Justin Abdelkader’s deflection four minutes into the middle frame tied things up (Boston struck in the first period when
Patrice Bergeron capitalized on a turnover), and with Bergeron in the ‘quiet room’ after taking a hit from Detroit’s
Niklas Kronwall, the Wings took over. Bergeron came back, however, and unfortunately ended up in the penalty box just seconds into his first shift back.
That allowed the Red Wings to take the lead against a flat-footed B’s penalty-killing unit.
With
Kevan Miller and
Dennis Seidenberg the defensemen, and
Craig Cunningham and
Danny Paille up front, some bizarre blown coverages left two guys in the slot, and gave
Gustav Nyquist ample space to bury home his first goal of the season. It was an ugly misstep by a B’s defense that’s still ironing out the kinks that come with Johnny Boychuk out of town.
The Bruins had their chance to answer back in the third when
Johan Franzen found himself in the box, and even had a strong look with a
Reilly Smith shot that was gloved by
Jimmy Howard, but in the end, Howard and the Wings hung on behind his easy 16-save effort.
It’s a long season, and losses are undoubtedly going to come, but this one was downright ugly.
Let’s start with the club’s botched 4-on-3 power play opportunity. The Bruins were pass-happy, and that’s a fact.
Zdeno Chara,
Ryan Spooner, and
Torey Krug cycled and cycled and cycled, but their only real look came with Chara’s blast that went through Howard (and even broke his suspenders). The lack of a right-handed shot undoubtedly came into play there, too, but still, you should generate more than one look when you have the 6-foot-9 Chara teasing a slapper in right between the circles.
That kill proved to be a breaker, too, as the Wings struck with the game-tying marker just two minutes later.
To address the rare puck-possession woes for the Bruins, look no further than their performance at the dot. Spooner won just three of 10 faceoffs,
Chris Kelly won just three of 12, and even
Carl Soderberg finished the night with just two wins on five draws. That’s an obvious issue, and a huge reason why seven of 12 B’s forwards finished the night without a single shot on goal. Brutal.
And let’s talk about the elephant in the room… the ‘first’ line. Yes, the line is currently without
David Krejci (undisclosed). Yes,
Milan Lucic is luging two rookies around. But man, this line has been ghostly through 120 minutes of play, and that’s just a fact. Lucic is still without a shot on goal, mind you. All summer long, we were told about what a shot
Matt Fraser has and how that’ll make him a weapon. Well, through two games, Fraser’s looked like a Horton-type that needs 20-feet or five seconds (whichever comes first) before he can rip that laser off his blade. And if we want to talk about Spooner, let’s talk about the disappointment that he’s been in the attacking zone, mainly given the fact that many consider this his ‘tryout’ to win a full-time spot on the B’s roster. Perhaps patience is key right now (the season is still just two games old!), but this line has left everybody in Boston counting down the days ‘til Krejci’s return.
If there’s a silver lining in this loss, it comes back to Bergeron. Any time you see this guy head down the tunnel, you hold your breath. Tonight was no exception. Especially when you see the guy hitting him (Kronwall) and hear the words ‘quiet room’. Another concussion to Bergeron would be enough for most to throw the towel in on this season just a couple of days into it. He’s that important to this squad, so his healthy return was an obvious plus. Hey, I mean, at least it’s something in an otherwise nightmarish game.
Up next
The Bruins will return to the TD Garden for a Saturday night affair against the Washington Capitals. Boston took two of three games against the Caps last season, but will have to deal with a peskier, sturdier team with new coach
Barry Trotz behind the bench and Pen-turned-Cap defenders
Brooks Orpik and
Matt Niskanen looking to make a major impression for their new club. The B’s, who took their home opener by a 2-1 final on Wednesday, have 32 wins in their last 42 contests played at TD Garden.
Ty Anderson has been covering the Boston Bruins for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010, is a member of the Pro Hockey Writers Association's Boston Chapter, and can be contacted on Twitter, or emailed at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com
Boston Bruins Blogger •Bruins Feature Columnist • 
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