The good news is the Bruins didn’t blow any leads on Saturday. The bad news is they got blown out by the Islanders instead, falling behind 5-0 and ultimately losing 5-1 on Long Island. The potentially worse news is they also lost Pavel Zacha to injury.
Andrew Raycroft on Bruins' approach to trade deadline
This was just an absolute stinker for the Bruins right from puck drop. They were a step behind all over the ice, losing battles, and struggling to get out of their own zone. They got outshot 15-8 in the first period.
Kyle Palmieri scored 3:32 in to make it 1-0, then again two minutes later to make it 2-0, and then again seven minutes after that to complete a first-period natural hat trick and bury the Bruins in a 3-0 hole. The Islanders scored again in the opening minute of the second and pushed the lead to 5-0 by the midway point of the game.
“We just weren’t good enough, weren’t firm enough, didn’t start the game on time,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said. “It’s one of those game where, for whatever reason, we weren’t very good. We have to move on to Toronto now and get ready for a team that’s playing really well.”
The lone bright spot of the night for Boston came late in the second when Marc McLaughlin, just called up on Friday, scored his first goal of the season in his first game of the season.
Here are three takeaways from the game:
Too many no-shows
Every team has a no-show every now and then. It’s happening too often for the Bruins, though. This was the third game like this in the last month, with a 4-1 loss to Calgary and 3-0 loss to Washington in the week after the All-Star break also qualifying.
Add in their problems holding onto leads in games they have been competitive and have been able to get the lead, and you have a 4-4-5 record since the All-Star break.
Even in the games they’ve won, there has often been a bad period – usually the third, but sometimes the first or second. In Thursday’s win over Vegas – their first regulation win in 10 games – it was the second, when the Golden Knights scored three times to erase a three-goal lead.
You could legitimately make the case that the Bruins have had one complete effort in their 13 games since the break – a 4-0 win over Vancouver back on Feb. 8. I might argue that Tampa Bay on Feb. 13 and Seattle on Feb. 15 were fairly close to 60-minute efforts, too, despite the Bruins losing both. Might.
The Bruins have too many top-nine forwards just not bringing enough production right now. Jake DeBrusk has one goal in the last 14 games. Brad Marchand has one in the last 11. Pavel Zacha has zero in the last 11. James van Riemsdyk has zero in the last seven.
The defensive mistakes certainly aren’t helping either. Mason Lohrei let Palmieri get behind him on a stretch pass on the first goal Saturday. The Bruins were scrambling and all out of sorts on the third, resulting in back-to-back grade-A chances for Ryan Pulock and Palmieri. The rush defense fell apart again on the fourth, with Charlie McAvoy running into Linus Ullmark to make matters worse. A Brandon Carlo turnover led to the fifth.
This is not where you want to be heading into trade deadline week. The Bruins are not giving general manager Don Sweeney many reasons to believe in this roster as is, despite still being in second place in the division. With so few assets and so little cap space, any sort of shakeup would almost certainly have to involve a player or two from the active roster being traded away. With the Bruins slumping the way they are, such a shakeup could very well be in play.
Zacha leaves with injury
Pavel Zacha was not on the Bruins’ bench to start the second period, and the team ruled him out a short time later due to a lower-body injury.
It wasn’t immediately clear what Zacha’s injury is. On his second-to-last shift, he made some knee-on-knee contact with an Islander. On his final shift, he crashed into the boards after backchecking to try to break up a shorthanded chance.
Whatever it was, obviously the concern now is about how serious it might be. Montgomery said after the game that he didn’t “have any firm update on whether it’s day-to-day or week-to-week.”
If Zacha misses time, that could certainly throw a wrench into Sweeney’s plans ahead of Friday’s trade deadline.
Zacha has gone quiet offensively (0 goals, 3 assists in the last 11 games), but he nonetheless remains one of Boston’s top two centers. He’s third among forwards in ice time this season, he plays on both the power play and penalty kill, and he’s been their best faceoff taker.
Those would be some pretty big shoes to fill, and the Bruins may not have the answers internally. Presumably Morgan Geekie would move up in the lineup; he did have some success playing with David Pastrnak at one point earlier this season. Trent Frederic could potentially shift to center on the third line, or Jesper Boqvist could move up from the fourth. Marc McLaughlin can play center, and did a little bit after Zacha went down.
If the Bruins dipped down to Providence for a center, Georgii Merkulov would be at the top of the list in terms of more skilled options, while Johnny Beecher and Patrick Brown could be fourth-line options.
McLaughlin scores in first game of season
At least Marc McLaughlin had something to feel good about. The North Billerica native may have been the only one wearing black and gold who did.
Playing his first NHL game this season, McLaughlin scored with 5:30 left in the second period when he finished off a McAvoy pass off the rush. It was McLaughlin’s fourth career goal, and his first since scoring three in an 11-game sample late in the 2021-22 season.
McLaughlin has had a tough season offensively in Providence, posting 11 points (6 goals, 5 assists) in 53 games. Meeting with the media in New York Saturday morning, though, he said he feels like there’s been progress with his 200-foot game and his details this season.
“Just playing a solid two-way game, 200-foot game, taking care of the details,” McLaughlin said. “I think I’ve done a good job with that.”
McLaughlin got into Saturday’s game because Justin Brazeau was sidelined with a minor injury. He had to make the most of the opportunity, because there was no guarantee he’d get another this season. On an ugly night for just about everyone else, he at least brought an honest effort. He scored the only goal, landed two shots on net, threw four hits, and blocked a shot in 12:39 of ice time. He did lose three of his four faceoffs, though.
McLaughlin could get at least one more game if Zacha, Brazeau or both are unable to play Monday night in Toronto.
For more Bruins talk, be sure to tune in to Sunday Skate with Andrew Raycroft, Scott McLaughlin and Bridgette Proulx, every Sunday 9-11 a.m. on WEEI 93.7 FM, WEEI.com, and the Audacy app.