One Big Takeaway From Bruins’ Troubling Road Loss To Stars

The Boston Bruins wrapped up their two-game road trip Thursday night with a 7-2 loss to the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center.

Boston fell to 8-8-2, including 0-2 against the Stars, while Dallas improved to 10-5.

The Stars have simply outplayed the Bruins in each of their two matchups. The Stars are hard enough to compete with head-to-head. On top of that, the Bruins had to ask more from further down the line chart from their defensive pairings.

Andrew Peeke already is expected to miss multiple weeks with an injury. Then the Bruins lost Hampus Lindholm after a blocked shot Tuesday night and he will miss “weeks” according to Jim Montgomery. That bad luck defensively continued Thursday when Dallas captain Jamie Benn sent Brandon Carlo head-first into the boards, only to meet the punches of Nikita Zadorov seconds later. Carlo did return to the bench after a trip to the locker room, but the Bruins took another bruise to the defense.

The Stars took advantage of the battered unit and peppered Jeremy Swayman all night. For the second consecutive meeting, the Stars tallied a trio of goals in the second period that created separation in eventual victories over the Bruins.

Evgenii Dadonov netted a pair of goals, including one from a penalty shot set up from Mason Lohrei’s first-period infraction. The Stars got five more goals from five different scorers as Dallas made the most of its quality chances around the Bruins net.

Boston needs a boost from the blue line during a flurry of injuries at the blue line. Until then, the Bruins face an uphill climb against talented teams like the Stars. As they did on Tuesday, the emphasis on veteran production and leadership is only stronger given the current obstacles facing the Bruins to finally find the next gear of their season.