All good things must come to an end and that includes winning streaks. Coming into the game, the Boston Bruins had won eight straight games in the regular season against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Well, the Maple Leafs slayed the dragon and finally secured two points against the Bruins winning 4-0. It was the third time in the last eight games the Bruins have been shut out.
This game was physical and had some snarl added to it. Things were dead even at five-on-five, but special teams were what doomed the Bruins in this matchup and became the difference in the game.
Bruins’ Penalty Trouble Plagues Them
Pinch me if you’ve heard this before, but the Bruins take A LOT of penalties. Whether the call is a good call or a bad call, the job is to kill the penalty. For the Bruins, they’ve not only gotten themselves into trouble, but they have not been sharp on the penalty kill either. Staying disciplined has not been a strong suit for the Bruins this season and if you give a team countless opportunities, they will cash in eventually.
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Coming into the game, the Maple Leafs’ power play had been struggling. They had a 10% success rate and were ranked 31st in the league. Only three players have scored on the man advantage for the Maple Leafs, with William Nylander leading the way. Well, the Maple Leafs made sure to make the Bruins pay for their sins, given the multiple trips to the penalty box.
The Maple Leafs scored four goals in the game and three of them came on the power play. Of the three goals, you can make a case that none were Jeremy Swayman’s fault. Morgan Rielly ripped a shot from the blue line with traffic in front. Matthew Knies deflected a Rielly shot and Nylander capitalized on a play they’ve been looking for all game long.
The Maple Leafs were looking for the cross-ice pass and trying to score on the back-door play. It was concerning that the Bruins’ defense was giving up that kind of real estate and eventually you knew the offense would cash in. Nylander did, as a cross-ice pass deflected off of Brandon Carlo into the net. The penalty kill was lost and the Maple Leafs were running circles around them all night.
The Maple Leafs went three for seven with the man advantage, which was good for a 42.9% success rate. While the Bruins struggled to kill the penalties, they struggled to capitalize on their own chances.
Bruins’ Power Play Remains Stagnant
The Bruins’ penalty trouble doomed them, but their inability to capitalize on their own chances didn’t allow them to crawl back into the game. The officiating was very whistle-happy and had no issues calling penalties. Where the Maple Leafs found success, the Bruins did not. They were zero for six on the power play.
The Bruins’ stars run the power play and every prominent name on the roster is on the top unit. David Pastrnak sits in the faceoff circle and you know it’s coming. Teams know it and they’ve keyed in on it. Their inability to capitalize on their chances has trickled into the power play and it’s become costly. They had just as many chances as the Maple Leafs.
Despite the lack of success, the Bruins managed to generate their looks. They fired 12 shots on goal, had 10 scoring chances, and six high-danger shot attempts. The more eye-opening part is they generated 1.42 expected goals with the man advantage. They did a good job getting to the front of the net and trying to get quality looks. Poor finishing ability plagued them, as that’s a tough pill to swallow.
The Bruins had their chances, but could not solve goaltender Anthony Stolarz. He has gone on to show why the Maple Leafs invested in him. He was strong, pitching a shutout and finishing with 2.54 goals saved above expected in all situations.
The Bruins need to be sharper and they need to figure out a way to be better during special teams play.
Bruins Need to Dig Deep
The Bruins have their own issues during five-on-five play when it comes to generating offense. However, they need to be more disciplined and not take as many trips to the penalty box. Even then, they need to take care of business and be better on the penalty kill. Depending on the circumstances of the game, the power play can make a difference. The Bruins need to dial in the power play and capitalize on the chances they get. It’s time to regroup and get ready for Thursday night against the Calgary Flames.
