The Boston Bruins lost 3-2 to the Colorado Avalanche in a shootout Wednesday night to end a two-game road trip.
Boston enters the All-Star break with a 25-16-7 record and has secured at least one point from 16 of its last 19 games (10-3-6). The B’s have a seven-point lead over the Florida Panthers for the second wild-card playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Here are six takeaways from Bruins-Avalanche.
1. Late Goals Against Hurt Bruins
The Bruins let their guard down at the end of the first period and gave up a goal with 0.4 seconds remaining, which is exactly what happened in the third period of Colorado’s 2-1 win at TD Garden on Oct. 13.
A shot from Matt Duchene was saved by Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask and the rebound went to his left, where former Bruin Jarome Iginla pounced on the puck and scored. Carl Soderberg wasn’t able to locate the puck in time to prevent Iginla from opening the scoring.
After taking a 2-1 lead with a third-period goal from Brad Marchand, the Bruins gave up the equalizer with 1:45 remaining in regulation when Avs center Ryan O’Reilly forced overtime with his ninth tally of the season. Colorado had a 6-on-5 man advantage after pulling its goalie with 2:15 left.
2. Bruins Penalty Kill Steps Up in Second Period
Two delay of game penalties, one by Rask and another from Adam McQuaid, gave the Avs an extended period of power-play time that included a little less than 10 seconds of a 5-on-3 advantage.
Shortly after Rask’s penalty expired, B’s defenseman Kevan Miller was penalized for hooking in what looked like a questionable call. This penalty put the Bruins in another 5-on-3 situation, this one for more than 40 seconds, but their penalty kill did an exceptional job blocking shooting and passing lanes with multiple defensive layers and active sticks.
Rask also made a couple of high-quality saves on the penalty kill, including one on Alex Tanguay during a 5-on-3 Colorado power play.
Boston’s penalty kill finished 5-for-5 overall and improved to 38-for-40 in January (10 games).
3. Brad Marchand Enters All-Star Break as Bruins’ Leading Goal Scorer
Marchand returned from his two-game suspension and scored the go-ahead goal at 4:47 of the third period. It was his team-leading 13th goal of the season and first since Jan. 13 against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Marchand is on pace for his fourth career 20-goal season with the Bruins.
Th veteran forward played in his normal left wing spot alongside Patrice Bergeron and Reilly Smith, which resulted in Daniel Paille moving down the lineup to his usual position at left wing on the fourth line.
4. David Krejci Reaches Scoring Milestone
Krejci tallied his 400th career NHL point with an assist on Marchand’s third-period goal. The veteran center has posted 21 points (six goals, 15 assists) in 27 games this season.
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5. Shootouts Not Kind to Bruins
The B’s have lost five straight shootouts and their record in games decided by the skills competition is 2-5. Reilly Smith, who hasn’t scored on his last eight shootout attempts, shot first for Boston on Wednesday night. David Pastrnak and Patrice Bergeron also failed to score.
The Bruins rank 28th in shooting percentage and 13th in save percentage during shootouts.
6. Tuukka Rask Gives Bruins a Chance to Win
Rask gave another tremendous performance in net with 34 saves on 36 shots for a .944 save percentage. He also made seven saves during Colorado’s five power plays.
The reigning Vezina Trophy-winning goaltender has given up two goals or fewer in four consecutive games and the Bruins have taken at least one point from 12 of his last 13 starts.
Thumbnail photo via Gary A. Vasquez/USA TODAY Sports Images
