Penalty troubles resurfaced, and then the Bruins could not catch up; the head coach called it a “pounding” as their win streak came to a close.
Boston (28-20-2) dropped Tuesday night’s contest, 6-2, to the Dallas Stars (28-13-9). Unlike their recent stretch, the Bruins could not hang on at five-on-five. The penalty kill haunted them early and set them behind in the first 20 minutes. Jeremy Swayman was pulled after allowing six goals on 34 shots; both the head coach and players took responsibility for that.
Boston trailed after the first 20 minutes due to two Stars’ power play goals.
At the start of this game, it seemed as if the Bruins’ penalty troubles were back. David Pastrnak, Elias Lindholm, and Nikita Zadorov took minor penalties, and the latter two led directly to Dallas power play goals.
“We talked about not taking penalties, too,” Hampus Lindholm said after the game. “They get two on the power play there to kind of get ahead of us. We kind of shot ourselves in the foot a little bit tonight.”
Wyatt Johnston scored the first one, and Mavrik Bourque followed his shot for the second one. Entering the game, Dallas’ power play (24.8%) ranked second in the NHL.
“PK’s got to be a lot better. We can’t give up [a goal] every game,” head coach Marco Sturm said. “We got to make sure we’re going to be better in that area.”
The Bruins’ penalty kill has been called on the most this season, and they have not had the recent success they had to start the year. The Kraken scored two power play goals on Thursday, and the Blackhawks scored one while still set up in the offensive-zone on Saturday.
“Two things we talked about,” Sturm said about the preparation going into this game. “We said we want to play five-on-five, that didn’t happen. Then we talked about faceoffs. We were pretty much chasing the game right from the hop.”
Dallas cleaned house at the faceoff dot on Tuesday night. The Stars won 39 of the 60 faceoffs (65%). Also, 20 of their faceoff wins were in the offensive zone. Two of Justin Hryckowian’s offensive-zone faceoff wins resulted in the Stars’ third and fourth goals.
At five-on-five, the Bruins could not catch up to the Stars, especially in the first 40 minutes. Through the first two periods, the Stars generated 44 shot attempts to the Bruins’ 23.
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The Stars finished with 57 shot attempts to the Bruins’ 38.
Jeremy Swayman was pulled after allowing six goals in 46:37. He made 28 saves, including three high-danger saves on four shots.
“We kind of left him hanging big time. So I kind of almost felt bad for him after two periods,” Sturm said about his goaltender. “We just didn’t play well for him tonight. In the last couple of goals, I think that was a little bit on him, too. So, that’s why we made that change.”
Swayman faced a flurry of Stars shots, and it gets worse when you look at how many the Bruins had. After the first period, Dallas led shots on goal 15-6. Then, after the second, Dallas led 32-11. Swayman allowed two goals in each period.
“I think we left [Swayman] out to dry today,” Hampus Lindholm said after the game. “I think he kept us in there for longer than we deserved. It’s a hard league to win, and maybe we took a little bit for granted here tonight, but they’re a good team, and good teams you have to play the right way.”
On the other end of the ice, Jake Oettinger only needed to make 16 saves.
Despite the 6-2 loss, the Bruins’ head coach pointed to a different kind of takeaway.
“The positive is that we actually got pounded today,” Marco Sturm said to NESN’s Andy Brickley after the game. “That’s a positive because it shows me, and hopefully everyone, that they were willing. You could tell these guys played in the playoffs every year. They’re playing that grinding game. For us, we were not willing to play that grinding game with them, and that was the difference.”
When asked why it was a positive, Sturm said, “We have to learn from it. Those guys are a, it’s a playoff team. Even without some of the guys [who] are not in the lineup. They are willing to play that style of game, just grind it out and stick with it.”
“If it’s a tight game, you’re like, ‘Oh, we’re right there.’ No, we are not.”
For Sturm, the message comes across stronger if the Bruins get “pounded.”
“He’s not wrong,” Morgan Geekie said. “We knew they were going to come out and play well. We knew, coming in here, that they were one of the top teams in the league for a reason. They showed us that pretty early and stuck to it all game.”
The Bruins quickly turn the page, as has been the case all season. The team will fly home to Boston on Wednesday and face Bruce Cassidy’s Vegas Golden Knights (24-12-12) on Thursday night.
“Looking forward, I see Vegas exactly like Dallas,” Sturm said. “Same kind of style, same system. So are we willing to play that kind of game?”
The Bruins know what they have to clean up, and it’s exactly what cost them in Tuesday’s game. It is a matter of how quickly they can wash this one out and start fresh Thursday night.