BOSTON – In the second leg of a home back-to-back for the Boston Bruins, the Ottawa Senators came to town for the fourth and final meeting between the two teams. Heading into the night, the two teams have been playing very differently: Boston has lost its last two, while Ottawa entered on a three-game win streak. Both of those streaks stayed true after Ottawa picked up a 6-2 win.
The Senators exploded out of the gate. They started by scoring not one or two, but three goals on Joonas Korpisalo. Ottawa got it wherever they could, on the second shot of the night, in front of the net, and on the power play.
Recurring problems continue to bite the Bruins. Specifically, the Bruins’ penalty kill has continued to make the game more difficult.
However, not all of the special teams units hurt the Bruins. Tim Stutzle went to the box for a trip, and 24 seconds later, Artem Zub joined him in the box. The Bruins went on a five-on-three for 97 seconds. The red-hot power play continued their tear, and David Pastrnak got the Bruins on the board with less than a minute to play in the first.
The late goal gave the Bruins some optimism as the first period ended, but it did not carry over to the second. Six minutes into the second and the Senators got a goal from Tim Stutzle, who has five goals against the Bruins this season. 19 seconds later, Dylan Cozens scored his 11th of the season, hammering home a shot from the point to extend the Senators lead to four.
That would be all the night wrote for Joonas Korpisalo. He would surrender five goals on 17 shots before getting pulled after 26:31.
“Well, you never want to get pulled. Doesn’t matter what happens. Obviously, I’m not happy with how I played. You play well, I don’t think you get pulled,” Korpisalo said after the game.
Shortly after the goalie change, the Bruins got on the board. It was the birthday boy, Charlie McAvoy, who netted his first of the season. Mikey Eyssimont was initially credited with the goal, but it was later changed to McAvoy. Ottawa responded less than three minutes later to reclaim its four-goal lead. The Senators’ sixth goal closed the scoring at the TD Garden on Sunday night.
Tonight marked the eighth and ninth goals allowed by the Bruins’ penalty kill in seven games. The last time that the penalty kill had a clean night was December 6.
After 40 minutes of action, Ottawa held onto a 6-2 lead. The shots were 19-13 in favor of the Senators, and the Bruins had laid 30 hits down to that point.
The third period did not feature nearly as many goals as the first two, but it featured some pandemonium. The referees handed out 74 penalty minutes in the final 20 minutes. Given the score and the fact that this is the fourth of four meetings between these two teams, you could expect this to happen.
Kurtis MacDermid dropped his gloves twice. First, taking on Tanner Jeannot for the second time this season, then following it up with a third-period bout against Mark Kastelic.
The Bruins might not have been in this game in the third period, but they played Boston Bruins hockey and were not afraid to engage, especially when it got chippy at the end.
“Guys care in here, and that’s why this stretch hurts. It’s not fun to come into the room after a game like that,” said Charlie McAvoy after the game.
The Bruins have lost their last three, and all of those losses have come on home ice.
It is a quick turnaround for the Bruins. There is one more game before the holiday break. The team has practice at 11 AM on Monday ahead of a contest with Montreal on Tuesday night. That game will be the fifth and final game of the Bruins’ current homestand.