A lead at TD Garden typically isn’t safe for visiting teams.
Saturday it was.
Thanks to a pair of goals in the second period, the Colorado Avalanche grabbed a 4-1 victory over the Bruins in Boston. It was the first regulation loss at home for the Bruins this season, and the first time any Boston team has lost in regulation at home since the Red Sox fell to the Baltimore Orioles on Sept. 28.
Chris Wagner had the Bruins’ lone goal. Valeri Nichushkin, Ian Cole and Andre Burakovsky had the tallies for the Avalanche.
Jaroslav Halak made 16 saves for the Bruins, while Philipp Grubauer turned away three shots for Colorado before leaving the game. Pavel Francouz then took over and made 16 stops.
Here’s how it all went down:
ALL SQUARE
Scoring in the first period has eluded the Bruins periodically this season, but not Saturday. However, they were outskated by the Avs much of the frame, and the two sides entered the first intermission tied at one.
A little after the midway point of the period, the Bruins struck first. John Moore’s shot attempt went wide, but Anders Bjork gathered the puck behind the net, skated around to the half boards, and slipped a pass to give Moore a one-timer attempt. Wagner was behind the net, but snuck around and got a piece of the shot, tipping it past Grubauer at 13:14.
Wags is on the board…again ? pic.twitter.com/RswLdEesMS
— NESN (@NESN) December 8, 2019
The Bruins’ lead only would last just over four minutes.
Tyson Jost started a rush from Colorado’s defensive zone, hitting Nichushkin with a pass as he skated into the neutral zone. Nichushkin gained the offensive blue line and tried to take on four Bruins, but the puck was poked away, though Par Lindholm’s attempt to swat the loose puck out of the zone hit off Nichushkin’s skate and caromed right to Matt Nieto in the high slot. Nieto quickly hit Nichushkin with a pass, and he made a move to his backhand and burned Halak, slipping the equalizer at 17:25.
Valeri Nichushkin, goal-scoring machine.#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/V2vnfTit42
— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) December 8, 2019
The Bruins were outshot 9-4 in the opening period.
WHEELS COMING OFF
The Avalanche really put their foot on the gas in the second period, taking a 3-1 lead into the final stanza.
Just past the nine minute mark, Joonas Donskoi eluded some Boston defenders in the offensive zone and worked the puck up to Mike Barberio, who then slipped a pass over to Cole. The blueliner teed up a shot at the top of the circle and blasted it past Halak, good for his first goal of the season, putting the visitors up 2-1 at 9:17.
Now that’s just pretty, Andre Burakovsky.#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/8qf6ICQJlo
— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) December 8, 2019
Then shortly before the horn sounded, the Avs furthered their advantage.
Colorado won a puck battle deep in its own zone, then began to start a rush. Donskoi’s pass in the neutral zone was just beyond the reach of Nathan MacKinnon, but the center did a nice job of going full extension and poking the puck to Burakovsky, who was dashing down the left wing. Burakovsky simply was too fast for Charlie McAvoy and Matt Grzelcyk, burning Boston’s defense and beating Halak at 18:21.
The best way to celebrate your 500th career NHL game: an absolute LASER.
We see you, Ian Cole!#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/iQByxo1wGl
— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) December 8, 2019
The Bruins were outshot 5-4 in the second.
NO MAGIC
Just two nights after erasing a two-goal deficit to the Chicago Blackhawks, the Bruins were unable to duplicate the result and force overtime.
Despite posting 12 shots to Colorado’s five, the Bruins couldn’t even find a second goal. Even though the results weren’t there, it nevertheless was the Bruins’ best period of the night. They got a late power play opportunity when Gabriel Landeskog was whistled for high-sticking at 17:39, but the Bruins still couldn’t cash in, despite pulling Halak and Colorado being a man down. Shortly after Landeskog’s penalty released, he buried an empty-netter with 2.2 second remaining.
UP NEXT
The Bruins will kick off a four-game road trip Monday against the Ottawa Senators. Puck drop from Canadian Tire Centre is set for 7:30 p.m. ET.
