Never in the Bruins’ 98-year history had they landed 50 or more shots on goal and been shut out. Until Thursday. Despite peppering Penguins goalie Casey DeSmith with 52 shots, Boston left Pittsburgh with a frustrating 4-0 loss.
It might be tempting to write this off as an unlucky loss where the Bruins just ran into a hot goalie, but we shouldn’t let them off the hook quite that easily.
While Thursday may have been a bit of an extreme just given the sheer number of shots, the reality is that this style of loss is something the Bruins could be susceptible to come playoffs.
The Bruins took a lot of shots, but didn’t create a lot of high-danger chances and couldn’t turn them into goals. They struggled to defend stretch passes and gave up a couple goals as a result. They didn’t get the timely save or two they needed from Jeremy Swayman.
Those are all issues that have cropped up prior to Thursday night, and they’re all issues that could prove costly if they continue into the playoffs.
On the first point, the Bruins had 40 shot attempts and 30 shots on goal through the first two periods, but just three high-danger chances, according to Natural Stat Trick. They finally got inside more in the third period, but by that point they were already down 3-0 and the game was pretty much over.
Lots of shots with fewer goals than you’d expect is not a new phenomenon for the Bruins. They rank second in the NHL in shots per game this season, but 16th in goals, 14th in scoring chances, 17th in high-danger chances, and 31st in shooting percentage. Their numbers last year were similar across the board. This is what the Bruins are: a volume-shooting team that doesn’t have a ton of high-end finishers.
At the other end of the ice, the Bruins are statistically excellent in most defensive metrics, but they lag behind when it comes to the kinds of stretch passes that burned them Thursday night. John Marino’s stretch pass to Jeff Carter, followed by Carter’s one-touch bump over to Jason Zucker, led to the Penguins’ second goal.
A high lob pass from Sidney Crosby that Brandon Carlo couldn’t handle led to their third goal (and Jake Guentzel’s second of the game). It was a similar play to the lob pass Kris Letang made to spring Guentzel on a breakaway in Boston on Saturday. Guentzel’s first goal of the night Thursday also came off a quick up from Mike Matheson that caught the Bruins in a line change.
Citing data from Sportlogiq, NESN’s Billy Jaffe said during the second intermission that the Bruins give up the sixth-most stretch passes in the NHL. Part of that may be that teams have to attempt more of them because the Bruins are so good at denying controlled carries into the zone. Still, if the Bruins struggle to defend them like they have a few times recently, you better believe teams will keep testing them until they prove they can stop it.
In goal, Swayman took a step back from his back-to-back strong outings against Pittsburgh on Saturday and St. Louis on Tuesday. None of the three goals he gave up were super soft, but they were all stoppable. The second, which came against the run of play after the Bruins had reeled off the first 10 shots of the second period, was a backbreaker and one of those moments you just need your goalie to step up and make a save.
“That’s the save you need in this type of game. We didn’t get it,” Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said after the game. “From there, I thought we pushed a little bit, but that was a game-changing moment.
“Give their guy credit. He made a lot of good stops. But we need to finish better. We’ve been struggling to score here the last little bit. Got away with it the last few games and played good defensively and got the saves. Tonight we didn’t.”
With just five games left in the regular season, the Bruins’ goaltending situation remains very much unsettled. Swayman had appeared to put his late March/early April struggles behind him over the past week, but Thursday casts a little bit of doubt on that. Linus Ullmark had been playing his best hockey of the season, but then he got hurt last Thursday and hasn’t played since. He is expected to return this weekend. The Bruins will hope Thursday was just a blip for Swayman, and they’ll hope Ullmark can pick up where he left off. If neither hope is realized, they’ll be in trouble.
Thursday night’s loss isn’t worth completely freaking out over. Next time the Bruins get 50 shots on goal, they probably won’t be shut out. Getting David Pastrnak back will certainly help in that respect. Getting Hampus Lindholm back will be a big boost for the defense. Both are expected to return before the playoffs.
But it’s also hard to ignore the fear that these issues -- struggling to finish against a hot goalie, suffering a couple defensive breakdowns, and getting goaltending that isn’t quite good enough -- could surface in a playoff series and ultimately be Boston’s downfall.
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