Hockey tends to be a little less predictable, and the key points in a contest can come at any time. But with this year's Bruins squad, it's becoming apparent that you can tell all you need to know about how the night will go just from watching the beginning of the game.
When the Bruins are on their game, they jump out quickly and rarely relent. They're 8-0-0 this year when scoring first and 7-0-0 when leading after the first period. But when they come out flat, it seems there's seldom hope of a turnaround, as they are also just 4-8-2 when giving up the first goal and 0-5-2 when trailing after the opening period.
And those slow starts have been especially costly of late. After watching Atlanta jump out to a 3-0 first-period lead on Sunday en route to a 4-1 loss, the Bruins have now surrendered the first goal in five straight games. They come away with just one win in that span.
"I think right now our team is not playing to win," said Bruins coach Claude Julien. "We seem to be playing to lose."
Getting behind early is certainly a losing proposition. The Bruins put themselves in a hole on Sunday they were never able to climb out of, as poor defensive-zone coverage and some costly breakdowns led to three Atlanta goals.
The first came when Patrice Bergeron abandoned his position to chase after Dustin Byfuglien, eventually leading to Evander Kane being left alone in front to tip home Anthony Stewart's pass. Then the Bruins allowed Byfuglien to get behind them and break in alone for a goal. Finally, Brad Marchand tried to get too cut with a move around Byfuglien, and the big defenseman stole the puck and sent Jim Slater in on a breakaway.
The Bruins did rally in the second period, finally showing some passion and intensity as unlikely combatant Matt Hunwick engaged in a rare fight with Kane and Shawn Thornton slugged it out with Eric Boulton in a heavyweight affair.
The change in momentum could be felt immediately, and Blake Wheeler cashed in with a goal to get Boston back in the game. But while some smart physical play set the stage for a potential rally, a needless and dangerous hit from behind by Daniel Paille ended any hopes of a comeback when it put Atlanta on the power play. The Thrashers converted with just 12.3 seconds left in the second period, reestablishing their three-goal cushion and regaining control of the game.
"These turnovers and poor plays in the first period just took us out of the game," said Julien. "Then we come back in the second period and put in a real good effort, some great opportunities and all of the sudden you take a penalty at the end and they score that goal and it just takes the wind out of us again. We've got to start playing here and finding ways to win instead of finding ways to lose."
The Bruins' struggles out of the gates go beyond Sunday's setback and even beyond their current 1-3-1 slide. They've given up the first goal in 11 of their last 13 games, and have just three wins in those 11 games.
That's a far cry from how they started out the year, when they scored first in six of the first nine games en route to a 7-2-0 start. They also never scored less than fewer goals in that stretch, with four or more goals in four of those nine games. In the last 12 games, Boston has scored one goal or been shut out in half of them.
The Bruins are finding it hard enough to win when they don't score early. They certainly can't afford to not score at all.
