The Boston Bruins began their five-game road trip with a 5-2 loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Friday night.
An abundance of defensive mistakes and an ineffective power play prevented the Bruins from overcoming two-goal deficits in the second and third periods.
The B’s will return to action Monday night against the Calgary Flames. Here are three quick takeaways from Bruins-Canucks.
1. Defensive Mistakes Put Bruins In Early 2-0 Hole
Lackluster defense led to Shawn Matthias opening the scoring with a goal just 1:41 into the game. A poor pass by Dougie Hamilton from behind the goal line allowed Matthias to double the Canucks’ lead at the 5:06 mark with his second goal of the first period.
The Bruins settled down after Matthias’ second tally and tightened defensively. They sliced the deficit in half when Patrice Bergeron scored his team-leading 16th goal of the season. His goal led a Bruins surge that resulted in them finishing the period with a 10-7 shots on goal advantage and a 20-13 shot attempt edge.
2. Shawn Matthias Completes Hat Trick
Matthias’ third goal of the game at 6:05 of the final period gave the Canucks a 4-2 lead. It also ruined any momentum the Bruins gained just 24 seconds earlier when Chris Kelly trimmed the deficit to 3-2 with his seventh goal of the season.
Matthias, who the Canucks acquired from the Florida Panthers in the Roberto Luongo trade last season, never had earned a hat trick at the NHL level before Saturday’s game.
3. Bruins’ Penalty Kill Excellent Again; Power Play Struggles Continue
One of the few bright spots for Boston was its penalty kill. The Bruins went 3-for-3 in shorthanded situations and their penalty killers did a nice job clogging shooting lanes, winning puck battles and attacking the points aggressively.
Boston now is 53-for-56 (94.6 percent) on the penalty kill in 17 games since the start of January.
The power play struggled for the second straight game and still hasn’t scored a road goal when trailing this season. The Bruins were 0-for-3 with five shots on the power play against the Canucks’ fifth-ranked penalty kill.
Thumbnail photo via Anne-Marie Sorvin/USA TODAY Sports Images. GIFs via Twitter/@PeteBlackburn
