Thursday night was one of those games you circle on the calendar. The one time a year that Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and the high-flying Edmonton Oilers come to town. And they were flying especially high ahead of this visit, with a 5-1-1 record in their last seven games. McDavid had an absurd 20 points in those seven games. Draisaitl wasn’t far behind with 16.
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The Boston Bruins lost Thursday’s meeting, 3-1. They made a couple too many mistakes. They got into a little too much penalty trouble. And their offense went just a little too quiet.
But this wasn’t a “bad” loss. There were certainly some silver linings and positives to take out of it, and Bruins coach Marco Sturm said he ultimately sees it as an opportunity for his team to learn.
“I like playing teams like that, because they make you better,” Sturm said. “That one mistake, it will make us better, trust me. And that's a good thing. Unfortunately, we have to learn the hard way. … For me, it's a great teaching game. Really good. Cost us maybe in two points, but overall, I do believe those kinds of games will help you.”
The “one mistake” Sturm was referencing in this particular case was the one mistake the Bruins made at 5-on-5, which led to the Oilers’ second goal. The Bruins had the Oilers outnumbered, 3-on-2, in a battle in the corner, but a miscommunication allowed Max Jones and Quinn Hutson – Edmonton’s 11th and 12th forwards – to get two grade-A chances, with Hutson, a former Boston University Terrier, burying the second for his first NHL goal.
That had to have been especially frustrating for Sturm because it was three of his top guys – Charlie McAvoy, Nikita Zadorov and Elias Lindholm – getting mixed up, and because his team had done such a good job defending the Oilers’ best players at 5-on-5.
McDavid did not get a single shot on goal at even strength, with the Zadorov-McAvoy pair and Boston’s second line of Casey Mittelstadt, Pavel Zacha and Marat Khusnutdinov handling that matchup as well as any group of five could reasonably be expected to. Draisaitl had one shot, with the Hampus Lindholm-Andrew Peeke pair and the top line of Morgan Geekie, Elias Lindholm and David Pastrnak canceling out Draisaitl’s line most of the night. For the game, the Bruins out-attempted the Oilers 41-32 at 5-on-5 play. The final shots on goal tally in all situations was an even 25-25.
“It was a good 5-on-5 game,” Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman said. “They kept it tight. I think if we keep a team like that under 30 shots, we’re gonna have a good chance to win in a lot of those games.”
Unfortunately for the Bruins, they also made a couple mistakes on special teams that proved costly. The Oilers’ first goal came on the power play, with McDavid setting up Ryan Nugent-Hopkins at the back post. Similar to Hutson’s goal, the Bruins appeared to be in good position, but Sean Kuraly just couldn’t make a play, missing both the puck and Nugent-Hopkins’ stick as the pass came across the top of the crease.
The Oilers’ third goal, which was the real dagger early in the third period, was a shorthanded tally from McDavid. The Bruins got caught flat-footed after a turnover and McAvoy just couldn’t recover in time as McDavid sprinted behind him for a breakaway, a painful reminder that the best player in the world is dangerous in every situation, even when he’s killing a penalty.
As with 5-on-5, there were positives on the Bruins’ special teams, too. They killed off four other Edmonton power plays, including two in the third period as they attempted to mount a comeback. They also scored on one of their own power plays, on a pretty pass by Elias Lindholm and prettier finish by Pavel Zacha.
But there weren’t quite enough positives, and the fact that they gave the Oilers’ lethal power play five opportunities in the first place was yet another negative. A couple were questionable calls, and one – Mason Lohrei’s “cross-check” on a flopping Zach Hyman – was downright atrocious. But others were just bad penalties to take, like Andrew Peeke being completely unaware of his surroundings and high-sticking McDavid right in the face.
Ultimately, Sturm liked most of his team’s game, but felt they were just missing that little something extra that’s needed to beat a team like Edmonton that has gone to back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals.
“I was really happy, actually, with our 5-on-5 game,” Sturm said. “We made one mistake, little mistake that cost us one goal. But other than that, I thought it was pretty good, exactly what we wanted. Special teams, yeah, you can't give up one. You can’t give up one on the power play, too, so that's a hard one. Overall, it's just a little bit frustrating, because I thought guys were into the game, guys were sharp, but that little pop was missing. I don't know, that little bit of energy on the bench wasn't there, but it was a good game from us. Just little mistakes cost us.”
The Bruins will get to test themselves against the Oilers again soon, as they’ll be in Edmonton on New Year’s Eve. Boston has five games between now and then, but Sturm is already getting a little bit of a head start.
“It’s a little bit too early, but I already made my notes,” he said.