The Boston Bruins secured a point in their first game of their three-game road trip to Canada, but weren’t able to pull out a victory as the visitors fell 2-1 in a shootout loss against the Vancouver Canucks.
Boston, who will have another two games in Canada, fell to 12-8-2 while the Canucks improved to 10-15-2.
You can check out the box score here.
ONE BIG TAKEAWAY
Special teams played a clear role in Wednesday’s verdict as both regulation goals came on the man-advantage. The Bruins tied the game as Patrice Bergeron deflected in a David Pastrnak shot on the Boston 5-on-3 power play in the third period, but Boston wasn’t able to do much else on the man-advantage. Boston’s power play — which went 1-for-4 in regulation — was a bit out of sorts, perhaps best depicted by their second-period opportunity.
At that point, the Bruins put together what essentially was a pass-first stretch on the man-advantage before a rather predictable shot from Pastrnak. It allowed the Canucks, on the opposite end, to unleash a number of high-danger, shorthanded chances at Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman. It not only limited Boston’s effectiveness and productivity, but essentially gave Vancouver the momentum to score at even strength just minutes later.
It’s obviously not time to sound the alarms as Boston ranks sixth in power-play efficiency this season, but it’s something they’ll have to get turned around now with Brad Marchand back from a three-game suspension. Boston’s penalty kill, on the other hand, had three kills in four chances.
STARS OF THE GAME
— Jeremy Swayman had another fine net between the pipes as he came away with a handful of key stops with the Canucks pressuring late in the contest, and that was after turning away three shorthanded chances at a crucial point of the game in the second period. Swayman had 28 saves on 29 shots in regulation before coming up huge in overtime with another three stops.
— Patrice Bergeron not only scored the game-tying goal, but unleashed nine shots.
— Vancouver goaltender Thatcher Demko was equally as good in net, and benefitted from the Bruins hitting their ninth post in a three-game stretch. Demko finished with 35 saves on 36 shots before stopping each of Boston’s first two shootout opportunities.
WAGER WATCH
Some bettors probably took the Bruins on the spread (-1.5) given the plus-money juice (+160), but Boston wasn’t able to cover in Wednesday’s game. You would have had to bet $190 to win $100 if you took the Canucks +1.5, according to DraftKings Sportsbook.
ON DECK AT NESN
The Bruins return for the second night of a back-to-back against the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday. Puck drop is set for 9 p.m. ET, and you can watch it live on NESN with an hour of pregame coverage.
