It could be tempting to say that the Bruins' 5-2 loss to the Rangers on Thursday was closer than the final score indicates. New York's last two goals were empty-netters, after all. It was a one-goal game between two division leaders for 58 minutes before that.
In this case, however, the 5-2 final actually felt pretty fitting. Those first 58 minutes, while close on the scoreboard, were not all that close on the ice.
The Bruins had a good first period and led 1-0 after 20 minutes. They got pretty badly outplayed after that, though, landing just 12 shots on goal over the final 40 minutes while spending little time in the New York zone. The Rangers out-attempted them 50-21 during that time and had an 11-2 advantage in high-danger chances.
"They checked really well. I don't think we checked well enough," Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said. "I don't think we competed hard enough on pucks."
Was Montgomery surprised by that given that this was a marquee matchup against a team the Bruins had yet to beat this season?
"Yes. Surprised and disappointed," he said.
Yikes. Not that there's ever really a good time for a surprising, disappointing effort, but having one come with 11 games left in the season on a measuring stick night against one of the best teams in the NHL would seem especially discouraging.
The Bruins have been no strangers to off nights since the All-Star break, but most of those had come against non-playoff teams or bubble teams. Not that it excuses them, but there could be an element of "playing down" to the competition or overlooking an opponent.
For the most part, the Bruins had still found ways to raise their game against better teams. While much has been made of their post-All-Star break inconsistency, their record against current playoff teams since the break was actually a very respectable 7-0-4 prior to Thursday. In fact, Thursday's loss was their first regulation loss against a team currently in the playoffs since Jan. 24.
"I think there's been times in the other games where I didn't like [our intensity], but overall, I've been pretty happy here in the last two or three weeks," Montgomery noted later in his postgame press conference. "We have 97 points because we're a good hockey team."
Perhaps the most disappointing part of Thursday's loss was that it was the Bruins' top players that didn't rise to the occasion. Their two goals came from Jake DeBrusk on the second power-play unit (technically an even-strength goal since it came seconds after the power play ended) and from fourth-liner Justin Brazeau.
Brad Marchand seemed to be fighting the puck all night, although he did assist on Brazeau's goal. David Pastrnak struggled to find open space anywhere near the Rangers net. Charlie Coyle had zero shots on goal and just one shot attempt, and also turned the puck over on the Rangers' first empty-netter.
In the final minute of the second period, Hampus Lindholm committed a costly turnover behind the net that led to the Rangers taking a 2-1 lead. After Brazeau tied the game early in the third, it was the Bruins' top line of Marchand, Coyle and DeBrusk and shutdown pairing of Lindholm and Brandon Carlo that gave the goal right back with a scrambly defensive-zone shift.
Jeremy Swayman had a third straight subpar outing in net. He got beat five-hole on the first two goals, although the second deflected off a sliding DeBrusk and he may have been partially screened on the first. The third goal is where the Bruins really needed a save. Swayman appeared to cheat off his post a little bit while anticipating a pass, giving Adam Fox too much net to shoot at.
The top power-play unit of Pastrnak, Marchand, Coyle, Pavel Zacha and Charlie McAvoy wasn't anywhere close to good enough. That has been an ongoing problem.
"It's not just been tonight, right? Our second unit's maybe scored eight of our last 10 power-play goals," Montgomery said. "So, we'll look at the film and we'll get better."
The Bruins better hope so. Their schedule only gets tougher over the next two and a half weeks, so there will be plenty of chances to show that Thursday was an anomaly and that they are ready and willing to raise their game against playoff teams.
They begin a six-game road trip on Saturday that includes stops in Philadelphia, Florida, Tampa Bay, Washington, Nashville and Carolina. Five of the six are in the playoffs and the other (Washington) is desperately trying to get there. Then they face Florida and Carolina again when they finally return home in two weeks.
It's time for the Bruins to find some consistency and to avoid more surprises and disappointments.
