By: Ryan Bosworth | Follow me on Twitter/X @RyanJBosworth
The Boston Bruins (13-5-1) were looking for a better start, and all around performance, after Thursday night’s embarrassing performance against division-rival Montreal Canadiens.
They took to TD Garden ice tonight, once again donning their brown Hometown Remix jerseys, to take on the Minnesota Wild. Coming into tonight’s game, Minnesota is off to a phenomenal start, sitting atop the Western Conference and Central Division with a record of 14-3-4.
Boston, after their embarrassing loss to Montreal, fell to third in the Atlantic Division, as both Montreal and Tampa Bay surpassed Boston in the standings, though things are tight — as the top five teams in the division are separated by just four points — meaning each game carries a lot of weight.
Jeremy Swayman was in the crease for Boston tonight, and his Minnesota counterpart in Jesper Wallstedt was in the opposing crease. Both Boston and Minnesota had some lineup shifts/additions tonight.
Mason Lohrei was headed to the press box, and Connor Clifton was slotted onto the right side of the third-pair. Minnesota got a big boost to their lineup with the return of defenseman Brock Faber.
Better Start, Kind Of
Boston definitely started the game with more hop than they did their game against Montreal. They did succumb to Minnesota getting the first goal, after a cross-checking penalty put the Bruins down a man against a power play that’s tied for fifth in the league (27.4%).
Boston got a lot of clears and were able to technically kill it off. Jeremy Swayman faced a flurry of shots as Minnesota had men firmly planted in front of the net. Just as Charlie McAvoy was skating into the defensive zone from the penalty box, Ryan Hartman was able to get one past Swayman.
The Bruins were assessed a few too many penalties in the opening frame, which certainly hindered their ability to generate more offense. Along with Charlie McAvoy, both Casey Mittelstadt and Elias Lindholm were all assessed minor penalties in the first frame.
Whether the team and fans in TD Garden agreed with the calls or not, the calls were made. If the Bruins want to score goals against the Wild — or keep the puck out of their own net — they need to stay out of the penalty box.
Boston got a taste of the power play inside of the last minute of the opening frame, as Ryan Hartman took a minor tripping penalty. However, just 30 seconds into the man-advantage, Elias Lindholm was called for a high-stick, putting both teams at four-on-four.
Deja Vu
There was a major feeling of deja vu at the start of the second period. By the two-minute mark of the frame, the Bruins found themselves in a hole with a score of 3-0.
Quinn Hughes threw one on net and got it between Swayman’s pad and the post. Just 1:07 later, Blake Coleman added a third that, on it’s way to the net, hit Nikita Zadorov and leaked through Swayman’s pad. Things were looking pretty grim for Boston, and we weren’t even five minutes into the middle frame.
Shortly after the Wild made their lead three goals, Boston would be given a couple of power plays. They generated a ton of offensive-zone momentum on the power plays, and they were able to get one past Wallstedt thanks to Fraser Minten.
There was life in TD Garden once again, and Tanner Jeannot wanted to add to it. Off the faceoff after Minten’s goal, Jeannot dropped the mitts with Minnesota’s Marcus Foligno. A heavyweight bout that Jeannot walked away victorious in.
It was some short-lived momentum, as Wild forward Ryan Hartman got his second of the evening after a bad change from a couple of Bruins’ forwards on a three-on-two. McAvoy had a bad step on the Kirill Kaprizov, who fed it cross-ice to Hartman. He snapped it in past Swayman up-high, and the Wild, once again, had a three-goal lead.
Weak Finish
The Bruins didn’t shift their lines around to start the third period — they kept things consistent with how they played the first two frames — and, unsurprisingly, they started the period somewhat flat — again.
After a few minutes, Boston began to settle in, and they started working the puck around the offensive zone really effectively — especially Casey Mittelstadt. Lines were in the middle of a change, and Elias Lindholm hopped off for Pavel Zacha, who stayed out Mittelstadt and Marat Khustnutdinov.
Khustnutdinov hopped off for a change, swapping places with David Pastrnak, who skated into Minnesota’s zone, got a puck in the slot, and slammed it home. Just like that, Boston was back in this game, and TD Garden was lively once again with 15 minutes to play.
Once again, Boston’s momentum was short-lived. Minnesota came in on Swayman with a three-on-one, with Connor Clifton trying to defend. Clifton did all he could to take away the pass, but when Danila Yurov was passed the puck on the near-side, he essentially had a wide-open net, and he wasn’t missing on that one. With under 14 minutes to play, Boston was down three.
The wheels quickly fell off from this point forward. Boston would pull Jeremy Swayman for the extra attacker with just under five minutes remaining in the game, and Minnesota would quickly capitalize.
Danila Yurov potted his second of the game, putting them up by a score of 6-2, and what would prove to be the final score of the game.
There were reflections upon the Bruins’ previous two flops against top teams in the league. Nikita Zadorov said that “You go down one, you go two, three, and at the end of the day, you’re in a hole, and it’s hard to climb out of against top teams like this.”
Captain David Pastrnak had a similar take to Zadorov, commenting that, “You get into this kind of position with this team over there, they’ve been playing really well lately, and it’s going to be tough to come back… they’re a really good team, took advantage of our mistakes and some sloppy plays, and won the game.”
Head coach Marco Sturm with arguably the most daunting postgame comment about the true position of the Bruins right now, comparing them to teams like the Wild and just how close they are to a Stanley Cup, saying “They’re a cup contender for a reason, and they showed us… we want to be one of them, right? And we’re just not there yet.”
The Bruins are back at it against the Los Angeles Kings at TD Garden for the fourth game of a four-game homestand and the first of a back-to-back, before heading out to Detroit for the second half of the back-to-back on Wednesday.
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