Bruins Wrap: Boston’s Home Win Streak Snapped In Shootout Loss To Golden Knights

BOSTON — The Bruins’ win streak at TD Garden has come to an end after a 4-3 shootout loss to Bruce Cassidy and the Golden Knights on Monday night.

Boston fell to 20-3-1, while Vegas moved to 19-7-1.

Check out the full box score here.

ONE BIG TAKEAWAY
A game like this was bound to happen.

The Bruins have been hot all season — especially at home — but they just could not get out from the slow start in the first period that carried over into the second period. The Golden Knights were all over Boston as the B’s just were not playing competitive hockey, made one too many passes and made a lot of poor decisions in the opening 20 minutes. The defense also wasn’t at its best and Jeremy Swayman struggled to keep pucks out of the net. While it wasn’t all necessarily his fault with the defense playing how it did, it would have been nice to see him get a save on at least one (maybe two) of the goals.

The Golden Knights came into Monday’s game as the best team in the Western Conference and they certainly proved why they’re at the top against a tough Bruins team that won 14 straight games at TD Garden.

The Bruins did make Vegas hold its breath, though, when it started the third period with a 5-on-3. While Vegas killed off the two-man advantage, the Bruins still had a power play and capitalized thanks to Taylor Hall who netted the equalizer on a second effort.

Still, you never can count this team out as they made it interesting with goals from Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak in the second period to make it a 3-2 game. Pastrnak’s goal came with 24 seconds left in the frame and appeared to give the Bruins some life, it just wasn’t enough to extend the home win streak to 15 games.

STARS OF THE GAME
— Logan Thompson was phenomenal for the Golden Knights, making 40 saves between the pipes and improving to 13-5-0 on the season. He stopped some crucial chances for the B’s and kept the lead intact for Vegas. Thompson made a huge stop on Taylor Hall and continued to prove why he was deserving of the NHL’s Rookie of the Month for November. While he didn’t get the win, you have to give credit where credit is due given the Bruins outshot the Golden Knights 43-24.

— Pastrnak gave the Bruins some much-needed life with 24 seconds left in the second period when he made it a one-goal game. A snipe from the left circle energized the TD Garden crowd and made it an interesting hockey game. His 2022 stats beginning in January to present day also are nothing to scoff at.

— Paul Cotter had two goals for the Golden Knights, who was filling in for the injured Jack Eichel and playing on the top line with Mark Stone and Chandler Stephenson. That certainly is no easy role to fill, but the 23-year-old did it with ease and made it a 1-0 game for the Golden Knights on the first shot of the night.

— Reilly Smith sealed the deal for the Golden Knights with the game-winning goal in the shootout to end what was an incredibly exciting game.

WAGER WATCH
The Vegas moneyline for Monday was +155 on DraftKings Sportsbook. A $100 bet would have netted you $255. You probably were holding your breath for most of the game if you made this bet.

NEXT ON NESN
The Bruins begin a three-game road trip out west Wednesday night when they travel to Colorado to take on the Avalanche after beating the defending Stanley Cup champions 5-1 on Dec. 3. Puck drop from Ball Arena is set for 9 p.m. ET.