If the schedule makers have been inadvertently kind to the Boston Bruins while scheduling a road-heavy month of March for the second straight season, it’s in the fact that the 4 Nations Face-off that interrupted the NHL season two weeks ago also interrupted a 6-1 streak that the Anaheim Ducks were on when the music stopped.
How relevant that little surge will be as the NHL season resumes with the run-up to the March 7 trade deadline is anyone’s guess, but the Bruins are in a non-mathematical, must-win situation.
They are only two points behind Atlantic Division rival Detroit for the second Wild Card playoff spot (the Red Wings have a game in hand), but the Bruins are also battling other “non-playoff” teams that have a better points percentage than Boston … as in more games remaining.
The other problem the Bruins face is, after these three home games, the vast majority of remaining games are on the road, where the Bruins have stunk this season, plain and simple.
The task is clear: Run the table at TD Garden, play their best stretch of stingy, structured, resilient (underlined) road hockey of the season (which isn’t asking much). If they can do those things with a consistency that we have not seen all season, then maybe – maybe – they make the playoffs. They have to do this, at least initially, without Charlie McAvoy, who was injured in the 4 Nations Face-Off. Throw in that Jeremy Swayman needs to steal a few along the way.
Is it worth it?
Opinions abound on the Bruins as sellers come March 7, but the belief here is that management still believes that, minus the circumstantial chaos that plagued their training camp, that a do-over of the 2024-25 season would have spawned a result far more to their projections.
I don’t think management is sitting high above rinkside tonight thinking we were wrong about this guy and that guy and it’s time to tear it down. I think they know they must act on certain realities and make certain changes. Beyond that, I’m not holding my breath for a reinvention of the roster.
That said, it’s anticipated that the Bruins will trade unsigned and potential free agents Trent Frederic and Justin Brazeau and that the Ducks will also be moving bodies, probably more significant ones including starter John Gibson.
Here comes the rest of the 2024-25 season.
It’s GIbson for Anaheim vs. Swayman for Boston.
FIRST PERIOD
After a slow start, the Bruins’ bottom six reversed the tide, and the home team started getting the better of the play, while not landing their first shot on goal until Mason Lohrei tried a wraparound that John Gibson had sealed off four and a half minutes into the game.
Brad Marchand got a roar from the crowd when he ran over Leo Carlsson as the two came together at the Anaheim line.
Shots through 6:28, the first TV timeout, are 7-1 Ducks. Some of those are from the outside.
The Bruins come alive through the middle three minutes of the first period with four Grade A scoring chances, but the only one that produces a shot on net is Brad Marchand’s attempt to fool Gibson from point-blank range with a little short-side slider that Gibson drags his left pad and deflects away from the right post.
Pavel Zacha had the first shot but backed out of his angle in the right circle to look for a goalmouth pass before opting for the right point. That play was good as it gave Morgan Geekie a potential redirect that went askew. Geekie got the puck in front after that and shot it over the net. Nikita Zadorov and David Pastrnak also had quality looks, but the Bruins’ six shots (through 12:30 of the game against 11 for Anaheim) were mostly generated apart from this sequence of closer calls.
Ryan Strome and Elias Lindholm got nasty on a faceoff and it carried two zones down the ice until Strome dropped the gloves. Lindholm never did, both got roughing minors.
Ducks score on the 4-on-4 when Lohrei tries to pounce on a neutral-zone situation, but it doesn’t go his way. Instead it’s a 2-on-1 with Trevor Zegras finishing a 2-on-1 with 2:33 remaining in the period. 1-0 Anaheim.
Old friend Frank Vatrano makes it 2-0 with 38 seconds left in the period. The Bruins had numbers galore on the Ducks’ zone entry, but Lohrei was paired with fellow left-hand shot Michael Callahan. Callahan defended the slot, leaving Vatrano open space on the left side to hit the gaping net with a sweet pass from Radko Gudas, 2-0.
The Bruins have their work cut out tonight, as it looks like, for at least 20 minutes, that the Bruins are facing the 6-1 (in their last seven) Ducks, not the 24-24-6 wait-til-next-year Ducks.
Shots after one: 17-7 Anaheim.
The odd piece of this is, once they had sunk their teeth into the game, the Bruins played a solid period. The first Anaheim goal was a one-off with Lohrei taking a risk and making a rookie mistake. The second one was blown coverage with two NHL rookies who both happen to be left shots skating the odd shift together. The shot totals otherwise reflect Coach Greg Cronin’s gameplan for shots, shots and more shots. The Bruins had more quality scoring chances in the period than Anaheim.
SECOND PERIOD
Pastrnak and Coyle have chances, get pucks on net.
Marchand draws a tripping penalty on Gudas, putting the Bruins on the powerplay at 3:25.
Geekie passes up a shot on the powerplay, the Bruins get nothing else good.
Lohrei lugs a lot of pucks and gets caught in a dog fight at the end of the shift when Matt Poitras comes back to win the puck battle and move it out of the D zone. Big play for Poitras that won’t show up on the scoreboard. He he not, it might have.
Smart dump and disruption by Elias Lindholm, getting the puck to Pastrnak who cuts in front and draws a tripping penalty on Zegras at 7:59 of the second period.
Brett Leason trips Pastrnak carrying out of the Boston zone, and it’s 5-on-3 for 1:32. Big chance for the home team to get on the board and get this crowd into the game.
Cross-ice pass to Lindholm, save Gibson but it breaks through and Marchand taps it over the line, 2-1 Ducks at 9:08. The Bruins still have 1:20 to work with on the powerplay.
The Ducks gain possession, and Vatrano skates into a partial breakaway but misses the net under a hard backcheck. Vatrano gets it again in the slot and misses again. Ducks get the second kill.
Another Anaheim penalty, this one on Ross Johnston for kicking Zadorov’s legs out behind the Boston net. Bruins get another powerplay at 14:30 of the second period. This game is getting old, but the Bruins have a reasonable chance here.
Johnny Beecher stirs up an altercation in front of Gibson that goes uncalled, but seconds later Lohrei gets a penalty for interfering with defenseman Jackson Lacombe. Ducks to the powerplay for the first time with 1:47 left in the period.
Zadorov pushes the envelope by roughing up Vatrano in the slot after a Swayman save.
Old man Alex Killorn gets a little nasty behind the net with Trent Frederic as time expires. Frederic does not take the bait, and the period ends with 13 seconds remaining on Lohrei’s penalty.
Shots after two: 24-20 Ducks.
THIRD PERIOD
Anaheim still on the powerplay…
No opportunity to spring Lohrei out of the box, but the Bruins do get the kill, and the teams reset.
Marchand visibly shaken after wiping out and sliding hard into the sideboards in front of the Anaheim bench. Marchand crawled toward the Boston bench, at one point reaching up to his head with his left hand.
Geekie puts a hard one-time on net, Dostal with the save.
Yes, apologies for not noting this, but Lukas Dostal has replaced Gibson to start the third period. The Ducks announced that Gibson has an upper-body injury.
Gibson is arguably the hottest trade-deadline topic, so this situation bears attention.
Time is counting down, and the Bruins are about three shift changes from a timeout and a strategy to pull Swayman. Not much happening on the offensive side of the puck. 5:24 left in regulation. 2-1 Ducks.
Terry and Vatrano almost combine on an insurance tally, but the Bruins disrupt the shot in the slot.
Zacha backhands a beautiful pass to spring Geekie alone on Dostal. He shoots: save.
Down to 3:00, Swayman still in net.
The Ducks sustain possession, drain the clock and get changes. The Bruins finally force Gudas outside the zone, get their changes and get Swayman to the bench for a sixth attacker.
Geekie scores on a one-timer with 1:11 left, but the Ducks challenge for goalie interference on Lindholm, who had brushed Dostal. The decision rests on whether the officials determine that Dostal was prevented from playing his position on the shot.
Goal Bruins, 2-2 with 1:11 left in regulation.
OVERTIME
Just when it was looking like a shootout was coming, Terry brings the puck into the danger. Swayman make a save, but Carlsson buries the rebound. Ducks win it with 1:21 left in hockey action.
The Bruins’ best look was when Lacombe blocked a hard shot, leaving him lame and unable to get off the ice. Pastrnak had a look from the slot but waited too long, and his shot was deflected.
The Bruins (27-24-7) gain a point, which is not enough for a good home team desperate to make up ground over this homestand before heading to the road where they’ve been less than convincing all season.
Next up, the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday night back here at TD Garden. Then it’s the Islanders on Thursday before the Bruins play weekend matinees back to back at Pittsburgh and Minnesota.
Drive safely.
Rink Rap with Mick Colageo 