Breaking Apart the Bruins’ Shootout Loss to the Canucks

BOSTON – The Boston Bruins, in the middle of a five-game homestand, took on the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night. It was a back-and-forth game; the Bruins jumped out to two separate leads, but saw those disappear. Recurring special teams issues continued to bother the Bruins, and a “loose” third period did not help. Vancouver would win, 5-4, in a shootout. But where did it go wrong for the Bruins?

“I think it was just some individual mistakes; that’s what it was, for some reason,” said Marco Sturm. “It’s unfortunate because I thought we were ready to go today, and we had a good first period; we just couldn’t find a way to put them away.”

Ahead of the game, Marco Sturm shuffled the forward lines. Marat Khusnutdinov and Morgan Geekie swapped lines, and the third line of Tanner Jeannot, Fraser Minten, and Mark Kastelic was back together for last night’s game. Sturm would hit shuffle on the top six during the second period, bringing Casey Mittelstadt to the top line for Marat Khusnutdinov.

“It feels good, it’s nice to have some familiarity there,” said Mark Kastelic. “With Mints, we’ve played together for a while this year, so it definitely felt like we kind of picked up where we left off.”

Marco Sturm realized he needed to make some changes. After 5:37 of ice time together, the first line of Khusnutdinov, Lindholm, and Pastrnak needed a jump. They were the only top-six group with a Corsi percentage below 50%. The shuffle worked immediately. The first line jumped to a Corsi for of 75%, and the second line was at 71.4%. High danger chances favored the Bruins, 3-1, with the refurbished top-six lines. All statistics, excluding shot totals, courtesy of NaturalStatTrick.

Boston dominated the first period, as Marco Sturm said. Morgan Geekie scored a one-timer on the power play, and the Bruins stepped up with a quality penalty kill. Unfortunately, Max Sasson got the Canucks on the board with 13.9 seconds to go. The Bruins were outshooting Vancouver through the first 20 minutes, 13-4.

Vancouver took the lead from the Bruins early in the second period, on a power play goal. Over the last six games, including this one, the Bruins’ penalty kill has killed 66.7% of their penalties. The B’s have allowed seven power play goals in that span, and their penalty kill rank has fallen from eighth-ranked to 17th-ranked.

The Bruins continued to put the pressure on Vancouver through two, adding 16 shots in the middle frame. Kevin Lankinen was constantly tested throughout the night, needing to make 26 saves in the first two periods. On the Bruins’ end, Jeremy Swayman had faced 12 shots to that point and had made 10 saves through two periods of play.

Boston took a one-goal lead into the third period after goals from Pavel Zacha and Tanner Jeannot that reclaimed the lead. The third period, however, was not Boston’s best. The Canucks tied the game three minutes into the last frame of regulation. Then, they took the lead four minutes later. The Bruins pushed for the rest of the period, but the game would not be settled in 60 minutes.

“What the coaches are preaching, and how our team is built, we know we have to play a full 60 minutes to win games in this league,” Tanner Jeannot added after the game. “Every team we’re playing against is a really good team. Tonight, going into the third period with the goal lead, it was just too loose, and we gotta clean that up.”

The Canucks led shots on goal in the third, 8-7; the only period in this game where the Bruins were outshot. The lead fell out of the Bruins’ hands, and they could not go and get it back.

The game went to overtime, but it was not enough. The Bruins generated six shots on Lankinen, putting it on him to keep the Canucks in this game.

The Bruins and Canucks needed to settle this contest in a shootout, and Marco Sturm raised some eyebrows by selecting Andrew Peeke for the fourth round. Was it a gut decision because the defenseman just scored the game-tying goal?

It didn’t sound like it: “We practice all the time. He has one move, and he did it real well. Not just once, a few times. I thought he was going to do it again, and he didn’t. So, that’s why I picked him, and so that’s on me,” Marco Sturm said.

Morgan Geekie, who has eclipsed 50 goals on the calendar year, shot in round seven of the shootout.

Sturm also played Jeremy Swayman for the fourth straight game: “It was a big game for us. We thought he would give us the best chance.” Swayman has not started four consecutive games this season until last night. Last year, Swayman struggled in his third successive start. Swayman made 18 saves, and six more in the shootout; on the other end, Kevin Lankinen made 38 saves.

“It’s onto the next. Taking the positives and moving forward,” said Jeremy Swayman.

The Bruins earned a point, but have now lost three of their last four as their homestand winds down. Between a “loose” third period and the recurring penalty kill issues, the Bruins let a winnable game get away from them.

Boston will have a chance to respond to this loss quickly as they take on the Ottawa Senators on Sunday night. The Bruins are ready to turn the page; there is little room for error, and a well-rounded 60-minute game is needed to win this one.