The Boston Bruins are hoping to recover from a tough start to their five-game Western Conference road trip with a Saturday night game against the Canucks in Vancouver.
The Bruins had a four-game win streak and a 7-2-0 record under interim head coach Joe Sacco, but that success feels far behind after two losses earlier this week. They were beaten 8-1 by Winnipeg and 5-1 by Seattle, with a total score of 13-2.
Penalties caused problems for the Bruins at the start of their Thursday game in Seattle. Despite having 34 shots compared to Seattle’s 21, the Bruins could only manage one goal, which came from captain Brad Marchand on a penalty shot in the second period.
Sacco wasn’t completely discouraged by the team’s offensive play, even though the Kraken scored three goals in the third period to make the game out of reach. Sacco said, “After the first six minutes of the game where we were short-handed (three times), I thought our 5-on-5 game started to come around.
We generated, we had some opportunities, we had some looks. It just didn’t go in the back of the net for us (Thursday).”
In addition to the third-period collapse, which followed a similar pattern in their loss to Winnipeg, the Bruins lost center Elias Lindholm to an upper-body injury in the middle of the game. No update was given on his condition before the team had a day off from practice on Friday.
The Bruins are ready to move on as they continue their trip in Vancouver, followed by games in Calgary and Edmonton. Marchand knows that improving defensively will be key moving forward.
He said, “If you give up five goals, I guess that it’s a positive … to say we got a lot of shots and more opportunities (than Seattle), but they had a lot of Grade-A (chances) … and again, we can’t give up that many goals. It definitely doesn’t make me feel better about the game.”
Marchand is currently on a five-game point streak, with four goals and two assists.
Before starting this road trip with two losses, the Bruins had a 6-5-1 record away from home. They can return to a .500 road record with a win against the Canucks, who are 10-2-1 on the road but only 5-6-4 at home.
Vancouver is 6-2-2 in its last 10 games, recently stopping a small two-game losing streak (0-1-1) with a 4-0 victory over the Florida Panthers on Thursday. Goaltender Kevin Lankinen made 27 saves for his third shutout of the season, and coach Rick Tocchet was pleased with his team’s overall effort.
Tocchet said, “It was a game where everybody contributed. Good team identity. A lot of good efforts from a lot of different guys, a lot of different lines. I thought the defensemen were scrappy, and obviously ‘Lanks’ had a great game. So, it’s a start in the right direction for building that team identity.”
Former Bruins players Danton Heinen and Jake DeBrusk, along with Brock Boeser (in his 500th NHL game) and defenseman Carson Soucy (scoring his first goal of the season), all found the net for the Canucks. DeBrusk has scored a league-leading seven of his 14 goals since December 1.
DeBrusk, who signed a seven-year contract with Vancouver in July after spending his first seven NHL seasons in Boston, scored the game-winner in his return to TD Garden on November 26. This goal helped set up Lankinen’s previous shutout before Thursday’s win.
Vancouver’s lineup was also strengthened by the return of alternate captain J.T. Miller, who had been away on personal leave, and defenseman Derek Forbort, who had been recovering from a lower-body injury. Miller, who had two assists in the game, brings much-needed leadership and balance to the team.
Defenseman Tyler Myers commented on Miller’s impact, saying, “(Miller) brings so much, so many different angles, what he does for our lineup, balancing it out, and what he does for the room with his leadership and his presence.”
