For the first time ever, the Boston Bruins took a trip to the state of Utah for their debut game against the newest NHL franchise, the Utah Hockey Club. This game was Boston’s second game of a Western Conference road trip that has them playing three straight west road games.
Unfortunately, the Bruins could not stay undefeated as they lost a one-goal lead late in the third period and shortly after an overtime penalty expired, surrendered the game-winning goal against – 2-1 the final score.
Bruins’ Top-Nine Struggles (Again)
Once again, the offense of Boston (or lack thereof) was the story in this one. Boston’s lone goal of the game, coming in the second period, was by another fourth liner – seemingly Boston’s best forward line – Cole Koepke. Mark Kastelic and John Beecher, along with Koepke, played another strong game and as they have been doing, gave Boston momentum when Koepke raced down the right-wing side, shooting a perfect shot five-hole on Utah goaltender Connor Ingram, putting Boston ahead by one. Koepke is now the Bruins leader in points with six in as many games.
Having this fourth line contribute as effectively as it has is a great sign for a contending team, showing the team has some offensive firepower down the lineup. However, when that line becomes the first line because the other three above them are failing to produce or generate chances – that becomes a major issue. In Saturday’s (Oct. 19) loss to Utah, Boston’s top nine forwards (Pavel Zacha, David Pastrnak, Elias Lindholm, Brad Marchand, Charlie Coyle, Justin Brazeau, Trent Frederic, Morgan Geekie and Matthew Poitras) combined for five shots – total – at 5-on-5. Only two players in the entire game had more than one 5-on-5 shot for Boston – Koepke with four and Hampus Lindholm with two.
As a team, the Bruins generated only five high-danger chances at 5-on-5, the second-lowest on the season (behind the Oct. 12 overtime win vs LA Kings); simply unacceptable for winning hockey games going forward. If 5-on-5 lacked, but the team at least showed some promise on the power play, that would be a bit less concerning. Yet again though, the Bruins’ power play did nothing of note – going 0-for-3 on the game and averaging only two shots per power play.
Related: Ways the Bruins Can Continue to Improve Power Play
Boston’s offense was a concern before the season started, as their defense and goaltending were deemed their clear strengths. However, keeping an opposing team to only one goal throughout three periods of play is excellent – anything less than two points is not good enough.
Jeremy Swayman Undeserving of the Loss
This game will go on Jeremy Swayman’s record as an overtime loss, but that is not indicative of his performance. Swayman stopped 30 of the 32 shots he faced, finishing the game with a .938 save percentage. While he may want a second chance to stop each of his goals against, there are other players who are more at fault for them. On Vladislav Kolyachonok’s game-tying goal for Utah in the third, Brandon Carlo was too far in the middle of the neutral zone, and by the time he noticed Kolyachonok’s speed down the wing, Carlo was too late to cut him off. The Utah defenseman beat Carlo to the outside before burying it on the backhand over a sprawling Swayman.
Prior to that, Swayman had a solid shutout bid building and was a massive reason the game was in reach for the Bruins. With the struggling offense, Swayman kept the Bruins within reach when the game was locked at zero and continued to do so after Koepke’s opening marker. This included stopping all five shots against on the four Utah power plays in the game and ending the game with 0.6 goals saved above expected (GSAx).
On the overtime goal by Michael Kesselring, the Bruins were coming off of a successful kill of a David Pastrnak tripping penalty less than a minute into the 3-on-3 session, when Logan Cooley fed the puck across the zone to Kesselring who delayed, picked his corner, and rifled it glove high on Swayman to win the game. Of course, Swayman would have probably liked to have a second crack at stopping that shot – but the Bruins did him no favors as both Hampus Lindholm and Utah forward Barrett Hayton were net-front, screening Swayman and again – Boston was just hemmed in their own zone due to the Pastrnak minor penalty.
Even with their faults, the defense did a solid job for Boston in this game, giving the team a chance to win. With Swayman holding down the fort between the pipes, the recipe was there for Boston to walk away with not only two points – but two regulation points. In any game where only one goal was allowed, there can’t be blame placed on the defenders. Carlo, Lindholm, Charlie McAvoy, and Mason Lohrei had good games while Nikita Zadorov continued his poor streak of having a penalty in every game so far this season. Andrew Peeke was decent defensively overall.
One More Game on West Road Trip for Boston
While the Bruins would have wanted a better result against Utah, they walked out of the Delta Center in Salt Lake City with a point and now head to Nashville for a meeting with the Predators to end the three-game road trip out west. Boston now has three points in two games on the swing, with the potential to finish with five points in three games – a lot more acceptable. Nashville has struggled this season, starting off winless with a 0-5-0 record. There are many things to work on for head coach Jim Montgomery and the Bruins staff and with six games gone on the season already – now is the time to make adjustments.
