The Boston Bruins dropped their second consecutive game with a 4-2 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night at TD Garden.
Patrick Maroon was the star of the night, scoring his first career hat trick. The Bruins outshot the Oilers 36-25 but squandered a number of hopeful scoring opportunities. Colin Miller got the B’s on the board early, while Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci provided the other two Boston goals.
The loss dropped Boston to 20-17-4 on the season, while Edmonton improved to 20-13-7.
Here’s how it all went down.
MCDAVID SHINES, B’S RESPOND
Connor McDavid entered Thursday leading the NHL in assists, and he showed why early on. Just over a minute into the game, the second-year star received the puck at center ice and carved his way through the Bruins’ defense before finding Maroon with a sweet dish to put the Oilers on the board early.
The Bruins answered six minutes later on a blast from Miller that squeaked through Oilers goalie Cam Talbot’s pads and managed to just barely cross the goal line.
Boston outshot Edmonton 13-8 in the first period, but the Bruins’ forwards were awfully quiet. The first line of Marchand, Bergeron and Pastrnak combined for a total of only three shots, while defenseman Kevan Miller posted three of his own. The first period also featured a rare Zdeno Chara fight when he squared off with Maroon, but the bout was merely a series of grappling.
BACK AND FORTH ACTION CONTINUES
The Bruins were able to grab the lead just over halfway through the second period when Bergeron fired a wrist shot past Talbot off of a Pastrnak assist. The B’s lead was short-lived, though, as the Oilers were able to knot things up just over two minutes later when Maroon notched his second goal of the game after finding a loose puck in front of the net.
Despite only scoring on one of 15 shots, the Bruins consistent offensive pressure limited the Oilers to only nine shots in the second period. Both teams had power-play opportunities in the period but failed to execute.
OILERS’ OFFENSE COMES ALIVE
The Bruins ran into some bad luck to start the final period. Just 14 seconds in the third, a rebound off a Matthew Benning shot bounced off the midsection of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and into the back of the net to give the Oilers a 3-2 lead.
Maroon padded the Oilers’ lead by posting his third goal of the game nearly halfway through the third period. With no Bruins in front of the net, Maroon skated in uncontested, put a quick move on Rask and finished off his first career hat trick.
The Bruins challenged the play petitioning for a possible offside call, but upon official review, the referees deemed there was no conclusive evidence to overturn the goal.
Boston cut the deficit to one late in the third period. With just seconds remaining on a 5-on-3Â power play, David Krejci one-timed a rebound to narrow the score to 4-3. The Bruins had a number of scoring opportunities in the final minutes, but the Oilers’ defense stood tall to earn the hard-fought victory.
UP NEXT
The Bruins will begin their four-game road trip in Florida against the Panthers on Saturday night. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. ET.
Thumbnail photo via Greg M. Cooper/USA TODAY Sports Images
