Wanna blog? Start your own hockey blog with My HockeyBuzz. Register for free today!
 

Capitals embarrass Bruins in season opener

October 3, 2018, 10:44 PM ET [73 Comments]
Anthony Travalgia
Boston Bruins Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Let’s just start this off by saying LOL Bruins….

I am going to take two positives out of Wednesday’s 7-0 loss to the Washington Capitals. I’ll get to those in a bit.

24 seconds into their 2018-19 season the Bruins found themselves in a 1-0 hole. 1:13 later it was a 2-0 hole and it only got worse from there.

It was an absolutely ugly performance start to finish from the Bruins. They were atrocious in their own zone, slow and unthreatening in the offensive zone, unenergetic on special teams and Tuukka Rask looked as bad as we’ve seen Rask play in a long, long time.

On the defensive side of things, the Bruins need to clean it up, and clean it up quickly. The Capitals had more than enough time and space to do as they pleased. That was clear on Alex Ovechkin’s power play goal, as he was left wide open for his insane rocket of a tally. Can’t forget to mention how wide open Nicklas Backstrom was with the puck, allowing him to cleanly find the stick of Ovechkin.

I thought both Brandon Carlo and Matt Grzelcyk looked lost out there and didn’t bring much to the table. To their defense, pretty much everyone wearing white looked lost out there. Don’t be surprised if Carlo or Grzelcyk get the night off in Buffalo Thursday, allowing Urho Vaakanainen to make his NHL debut.

Can you look back offensively and recall one instance where you can say to yourself the Bruins should have scored there? Maybe Jake DeBrusk’s shot that rang pipe in the first? Or maybe it was the open Bergeron shot after a nifty backhanded feed from Marchand? I’ll give you those if you want. But the bottom line is with the effort put forth offensively by the Bruins, they made life extremely easily for Capitals goalie Braden Holtby who now has four career shutouts against the Bruins.

I was curious to see how the Bruins looked on special teams, more so on the power play. As expected, it was Grzelcyk taking the injured Torey Krug’s spot as the first power play unit’s “quarterback.” The Bruins mustered up just two shots on two power play attempts, while looking very unorganized with the man advantage.

If there was one spot where the Bruins would miss Riley Nash,—now in Columbus—that would be on the penalty kill. That was evident in game one. Last season the Bruins finished third in the league on the penalty kill with Nash seeing the most shorthanded time on ice per game among Bruins forwards. They sure could have used Nash’s penalty killing skills against the Capitals who scored on four of six man advantages.

Before I get to the play from Tuukka Rask, I would like to simply point out that last season three times Pekka Rinne allowed five goals in a game, including his second start of the season. If you read my “Meet your 2018-19 Bruins” blog, you may understand this reference.

Rask was awful in this game. No questions about it, and no defending him on this one. Sure, goalies are going to have nights like this. But getting pulled in the second period of your first start of the season is never a good way to kick things off.

Now for my two positives from Wednesday’s loss

John Moore: I thought Moore was the Bruins best player on the ice. Defensively he was as advertised, but it was how quickly he got the puck out of the zone and how he was able to create odd-man rushes with his outlet passes. I was also impressed with his aggressiveness in the offensive zone. Moore finished with a team high four shots on goal. The former Devils defenseman was also the only Bruins blue liner who did not finish the night as a minus.

Thursday in Buffalo: The Bruins will have less than 24 hours to dwell on their stinker in Washington Wednesday as they travel to Buffalo to skate against the Sabres in Buffalo's home opener. No one should panic after a dud like this one, but let’s revisit the whole panic thing if the Bruins drop another dud in Buffalo on Thursday.
Join the Discussion: » 73 Comments » Post New Comment
More from Anthony Travalgia
» The End of an Era?
» Linus Ullmark or Jeremy Swayman in Game 7?
» Home Not So Sweet Home
» Bruins Depth On Full Display In Sunrise Sweep
» Bruins Drop Game 2 After Ugly Performance