By: Declan Flavin | Follow me on Twitter / X @FlavinDeclan
The Boston Bruins lost a tough one against the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday, providing little energy and allowing simple counterattacks to beat them. Coming into this game knowing they would be up against a potent group of forwards, it’s a shame this turned out to be the narrative in the end.
As this group sets a new standard each week for how well they execute, the next step will be attacking some of these bigger games that require the team to perfect their game plan and then some. With a continuously tight playoff race, they can’t afford to consistently drop these bigger games in the middle of the schedule.
Forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins Scores at 6:22 of the First Period
On the opponent’s first goal of the game, the penalty-kill structure was attacked again, although it was more about reaction than anything else. Forward Sean Kuraly, donning No. 52, gets caught analyzing his surroundings for a bit too long, and by the time he looks back to find Nugent-Hopkins, the scorer is already attacking his blind spot for an eventual dish from forward Connor McDavid.
Defenseman Charlie McAvoy had pointed to Kuraly’s side beforehand, signaling for him to supervise the Zach Hyman–Nugent-Hopkins forward combination, so the setup worked as intended, but Kuraly was ultimately overwhelmed by the options for McDavid. It would be worse if it were a clear breakdown of the structure, so you just make sure Kuraly stays hyper-sensitive to the passing lanes and shuts them down a little earlier.
Forward Quinn Hutson Scores at 5:22 of the Second Period
In this case, goaltender Jeremy Swayman will probably want another chance at a cleaner glove save, knowing that he’s handled shots like this before. Instead, he can’t get a full glove on the puck, and it bounces awkwardly through the crease into Hutson’s sweet spot.
Could forward Elias Lindholm do a better job of committing to a clear-out of Hutson? Sure, but there’s a reason Lindholm slowed down as if the play was over—his goaltender usually swarms those.
Forward Connor McDavid Scores at 18:19 of the Third Period
This goal was an absolute backbreaker, coming off an Oilers penalty-kill counter in which McAvoy took a risk. He could either stay back on the most dangerous Oiler and play it safe, or, as you can see in the frame above, try to snuff out the lead pass out of the zone without making a mistake.
Although McAvoy has made the high-level play of snuffing out a lead pass before, it’s probably never wise to risk doing that with McDavid behind you, and before long, it turned into a putaway breakaway. What complicates things is that McAvoy started playing it safe with high positioning at the blue line but gradually became looser and riskier on the counter, though he should soon identify play situations more effectively as he gets further from his injury.
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