By: Chad Jones | Follow me on Twitter/X @ShutUpChadJones
After starting off the season with three consecutive victories, the Boston Bruins find themselves in the midst of a three-game losing streak. Boston’s most recent defeat came against the Colorado Avalanche 4-1 on Saturday night. During this skid, the Bruins’ poor puck management has cost them dearly.
First Period
For the first time this season, Bruins Head Coach Marco Sturm inserted Johnny Beecher into the lineup. And the winger did not take long to make an impact.
Just over three minutes into the game, the Bruins made a great play along the wall to free the puck for Mason Lohrei. The defenseman whipped a pass to his defense partner, Charlie McAvoy, who had a lot of ice to work with in the offensive zone. He delivered a slap pass directly on the tape of Beecher, who buried the puck past Scott Wedgewood to give Boston an early 1-0 lead.
However, as has been the case in recent games, turnovers continued to plague the Bruins. In the middle of the frame, David Pastrnak gave the puck away to Artturi Lehkonen in the neutral zone. The forward then found the streaking Nathan MacKinnon. The dynamic winger exploded into Boston’s zone all alone, put on a phenomenal stick-handling display, and then slid a backhand attempt past Jeremy Swayman to tie the game at 1-1.
Just past the period’s halfway point, Gabriel Landeskog produced a clean faceoff win against Casey Mittelstadt in Colorado’s zone. Brent Burns immediately slid the puck over to Josh Manson. The defenseman then rifled an attempt toward the net. The puck eluded the maze of bodies and found the back of the net.
The goal gave the Avalanche a 2-1 lead. That would be the score after the opening 20 minutes.
Second Period
With Colorado pressing hard early and often in the frame, Swayman remained sharp to keep the deficit at a goal. In the first four minutes of the period, the Avalanche produced six shots to Boston’s none. Swayman kept the Bruins in the game, as Colorado continued to generate looks and keep the puck in their offensive zone.
The biggest save Boston’s goalie made in the period came with four minutes left in the frame, when he denied Martin Necas after MacKinnon delivered a pass to the forward on a two-on-one opportunity. The Bruins took three penalties during the period and were hemmed in their end for the majority of the frame.
While that is certainly not a recipe for success when facing the high-flying Avalanche, Swayman and the penalty killers managed to keep the puck out of the net during the middle period. Despite being outshot 16-2 in the middle 20 minutes, the Bruins only trailed 2-1 heading into the second intermission.
Third Period
Colorado would add to their lead early in the final frame. MacKinnon again showed his world-class speed and skill by scooting into the offensive zone. An effective give-and-go with Lehkonen was punctuated by MacKinnon teeing up a one-timer blast from the right faceoff circle that beat Swayman.
That score gave Colorado some insurance and increased their lead to 3-1. Later in the period, after not seeing much action all night, Wedgewood robbed Beecher on a slot shot.
Necas potted an empty net goal from his own zone to ice the contest and secure Colorado’s 4-1 win. Boston could not muster a consistent offensive attack, finishing with only 14 shots on net.
The Avalanche completely dominated the final forty minutes of the contest, outshooting the Bruins 31-7 over the final two periods. Swayman and the penalty killers did their job, but this was the first time this season that Boston’s lack of offensive firepower proved problematic.
The Bruins will look to salvage the final game of the road trip Sunday night against the Mammoth. Boston must pay more attention to detail in Utah if they want to snap this losing streak.
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