BOSTON — There was every indication in the first period that the Boston Bruins were going to run away with things against the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night.
Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner proved to be incredibly shaky in the opening frame, allowing two soft goals in from Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak. In past games this season, the Bruins would have kept the pressure on until Skinner fully wilted.
But that moment never came for the Bruins as their offense uncharacteristically turned lackluster while the Oilers stormed back from a two-goal deficit to steal a 3-2 win at TD Garden and snap Boston’s 10-game winning streak.
Bruins coach Jim Montgomery thought one of the major errors for his club to have the tide turn against them was their offense becoming too passive.
“Passed up too many opportunities to push the lead,” Montgomery said. “We were a very non-competitive team offensively tonight.”
Montgomery added: “Turning down shots, not driving to hard areas, not winning enough battles to create O-zone time. So, that’s a good lesson for us to learn because they played well.”
Marchand certainly agreed with his coach, believing the Bruins didn’t take full advantage of their offensive opportunities and will need to learn from the mistake going forward.
“We were passing up some chances, and didn’t attack seams and stuff, man-on-man,” Marchand said. “Definitely some things we can improve upon and be better on moving forward.”
Even with a 2-0 lead after the first 20 minutes, Montgomery felt the Bruins were “lucky” to be in that position. So, while the Bruins’ offense stumbled, other parts of their game did as well to not be able to protect a one-goal lead heading into the third period.
The Bruins were 35-0-2 going into the third period with the lead this season until the Oilers came from behind in stunning fashion.
“I thought they outplayed us, outworked us and out-coached us,” Montgomery said.
Here are more notes from Thursday’s Bruins-Oilers game:
— With his first-period goal, Marchand became a part of an exclusive club in franchise history. The veteran winger now has at least 20 goals in 10 consecutive seasons, joining Patrice Bergeron and Johnny Bucyk as the only members of the Bruins to accomplish that feat.
“I think it’s his work ethic and the way that he just approaches every practice, every game, every workout,” Bergeron said of how Marchand sustained the consistency. “His will and his want to just get better every day and his competitive level, obviously.”
— The Bruins neutralized Hart Trophy-favorite Connor McDavid, who entered the contest with a league-leading 124 points. McDavid didn’t register a point in the win, which was the fifth time all season that has occurred.
— Bruins forward Jake DeBrusk momentarily left the game midway through the first period after he was checked by Oilers Mattias Ekholm. But the Bruins dodged a major injury as DeBrusk returned and Montgomery gave a good status on health after the game.
“I think most of it was just his wind got knocked out of him because even when you’re not expecting a hit and there’s just an accidental collision like that, you don’t brace yourself for the hit and that knocks the air of you,” Montgomery said. “We’re lucky that’s all it was.”
— Jeremy Swayman suffered only his second regulation loss in his last 12 games to see his record go to 16-5-5. He made just 19 saves on 22 shots.
— The Bruins have a home-and-home series on tap next with the Detroit Red Wings. The first matchup will come Saturday at TD Garden with puck drop scheduled for 1 p.m. ET. That game will be televised on ABC.
The Bruins return to NESN airwaves Sunday when they take on the Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena. That contest is set for 1:30 p.m. with pregame coverage on NESN beginning an hour prior to puck drop.
