The Boston Bruins (22-19-2) completed a five-game road trip on Tuesday night, but fell to the red-hot Seattle Kraken (20-14-7); it was Seattle’s eighth win in nine games. Boston conceded three power play goals and two goals in a 97-second span that sank the Bruins at the Climate Pledge Arena.
The Bruins were the well-rested team going into this game. Their schedule benefited them towards the end of this road trip; the Bruins had an extra day off, and did not hold a morning skate on Tuesday. On the other hand, Seattle was in Calgary on Monday night, flew back to Washington, and played on Tuesday night.
“There’s no excuse to be tired,” Pastrnak said after the game. “We should have been the fresher team. At times, we were. We made a lot of mistakes against a team that is feeling good, and everything is clicking for them right now; you can’t do that. There’s no way you’re going to win a hockey game in this league like that.”
Seattle struck first on Tuesday night, with a five-on-three goal ten seconds into the power play.
The undisciplined play has been a recurring issue for the Bruins, and it continued on Tuesday against the Kraken. Boston entered the night as the NHL’s most penalized team, leading the league in penalty minutes, penalties taken, and times shorthanded.
“We are all aware, and it’s been a big topic in this room,” David Pastrnak said. “Just move our feet; even my penalty, hooking. These stick penalties are usually when you don’t move [your] feet.”
Seattle’s power play connected twice more in the game. Jared McCann scored a buzzer-beater, beating the second intermission by 0.4 seconds. Later in the third period, Berkly Catton tallied his second career NHL goal on the man-advantage.
“We talk about it every day,” Marco Sturm said about the penalties. “Look at our four penalties today, it starts with Swayman, David, [Zadorov], and an o-zone penalty from Steeves.”
The Kraken pulled away in the last 97 seconds of the second period. Mason Lohrei struggled to get the puck off the boards, and Ben Meyers was set up for a one-timer. The Kraken then received McCann’s buzzer-beater to take a 4-2 lead into the third period.
“Compete, wherewithal, like mentally, you can’t sleep,” Charlie McAvoy said about the mistakes at the end of the second period. “We talked about them going into the slot. The second goal, we do it to ourselves, on a turnover. And then comes back down the other way. The third one, it’s just win a battle. I was saying it’s not enough to be in the right spots, but you got to do your job when you’re there.”
David Pastrnak had two goals for the Bruins, both of which tied the Kraken lead in the first two periods. He now has seven points (4-3–7) in the last three games.
To start the second period, Marco Sturm moved Pastrnak back to the first line, reuniting him with Elias Lindholm and Morgan Geekie.
“I thought David had really good legs today; he was really skating hard,” Sturm said. “The other line, Lindy and Geeks, they needed a guy to push them. That’s why I changed it in the second, and they scored, that’s why I kept them together.”
Then, Boston got a push late in the third period. Mason Lohrei scored his third goal of the season at 14:50, before Viktor Arvidsson finished a Casey Mittelstadt feed on the power play to make it 6-4.
Kaapo Kakko iced the game with an empty net goal to give Seattle a 7-4 win.
“It’s a bitter taste today, that’s for sure,” Marco Sturm said. “That’s something we have to learn as a group. Very immature 60 minutes today. Those are the games we have to learn.”
The Bruins end their five-game road trip at 2-2-1.
“I’ll take that .500 road trip any time. Recovering from Buffalo, and now going back home with that makes me happy, but we have a long way to go.”
The Bruins are returning home for a five-game homestand and will start with the Calgary Flames. The Bruins played Calgary on the road trip and lost in overtime due to careless penalties. It is a quick turnaround, but the Bruins will have to right these wrongs ahead of their first game back at the TD Garden.