Tuesday marked the beginning of a highly difficult four-game stretch for the Boston Bruins. So far, they’re 0-2.
After dropping a 5-3 decision to the Dallas Stars, the Bruins fell 4-1 to the Washington Capitals on Thursday in a game that followed the same unfortunate template. Boston held a first-period lead in each contest but was outscored by a total of seven goals to one over the second and third frames.
The road gets no easier from here, as the Bruins now head north Saturday to take on a Montreal Canadiens team that has won each of the last six regular-season meetings between the Original Six rivals.
But first, some notes from Thursday:
— David Krejci failed to record a point for the second straight game, but he did finish with a team-high five shots on goal.
Krejci still leads the Bruins in both goals (seven) and points (15) this season, and Joe McDonald took a look at the center’s hot start Thursday in a piece for ESPN.com. Included in that extensive article were some quotes from Milan Lucic, a former linemate of Krejci’s before his offseason trade to the Los Angeles Kings.
Lucic said he’s “not surprised” Krejci has turned things around after an injury-plagued 2014-15 campaign.
“I think when you go through the season he did last year,” Lucic told McDonald, “full of injuries and not being able to play at the high level he’s used to, I expected him to work his absolute hardest this offseason to get back to full form, and it’s paid off so far through the first month of the season.”
— Speaking of the Lucic trade, one of the players acquired in it extended his point streak Thursday night. Defenseman Colin Miller assisted on Jimmy Hayes’ first-period goal and now has tallied a point in each of his last five games.
— Another Bruins offseason acquisition, Matt Beleskey, endured a rather painful evening. Beleskey was leveled to the ice on multiple occasions — including a huge hit at center ice by Dimitry Orlov — and also was knocked off his feet by a Kevan Miller slap shot.
— Tyler Randell and Michael Latta dropped the gloves midway through the second period, with Randell coming out on top. It was the first official (read: regular-season) fight of the Bruins rookie’s NHL career, but as The Boston Globe’s Amalie Benjamin pointed out, he and Latta have a history.
— Former Bruins phenom Tyler Seguin lit up his old team Tuesday night, recording a hat trick in the Stars’ win at TD Garden. So, when B’s president Cam Neely was a guest Thursday on 98.5 The Sports Hub’s “Felger & Massarotti,” it was only a matter of time before Seguin’s name came up.
The conversation went on for several minutes, but the most interesting soundbite came after Neely was asked whether the decision to trade Seguin was purely based on on-ice issues.
“No. Not at all,” Neely responded. “I think, looking back, we probably could have done some things differently with Tyler. You’ve got a young kid coming in, and maybe we could have handled maybe his living arrangements a little different, and stuff like that that we’ve talked about over the years. It’s something that we’re certainly addressing currently, and in the future we will continue to address.”
Thumbnail photo via Greg M. Cooper/USA TODAY Sports Images
