Bruins short-circuited
Tampa Bay’s shorthanded goals jolt B’s
The Bruins have one of the best power plays in the NHL.
They’ve been scoring, too; they scored twice on the power play in Saturday night’s loss to the Lightning, and in four of their past five games overall.
It’s a lot better when it’s not giving up goals, though.
Last season the Bruins allowed the most shorthanded goals in the league. This year, their seven allowed is the sixth most, which still isn’t good.
Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy was worried about that element sneaking into the Bruins game and getting complacent; they paid the price on Saturday night.
“Our top unit is one of the best in the NHL, if not the best,” said defenseman Charlie McAvoy. “Everyone makes mistakes, it’s a game. I certainly make mistakes, we all do. Tonight just — stuff happens. It’s a quick game. You go back and look at it and get better from it. We have so much faith in our power play, especially that top group. They always answer the bell. Nights like tonight happen, but there’s so much skill, so much chemistry on that unit, they’re huge for us.”
The first goal sent the Bruins in a hole they never recovered from, just six seconds into their own power play. It’s a situation primed for a big save from an elite goalie like Tuukka Rask, but that didn’t happen.
That would have been great, but it’s better not to fall into those positions giving up so many shorthanded opportunities.
“I’m just looking at how the chances were manufactured, and that was the five guys on the ice outworked by four. That’s where it starts,” said Cassidy. “Of course, we could have used a save and maybe two, and all of a sudden, they probably just forget about it and keep playing, but that doesn’t happen every night. He’s been rock solid for us, Tuukka, so it’s a bit of the guys like, hey you just can’t give up these chances.”
The Bruins weren’t caught off guard by the Lightning’s shorthanded prowess, either — it was something they talked about beforehand. The Lightning have six shorthanded goals this season, sixth in the NHL.
Given their strong penalty kill and speed, that shouldn’t have been such a surprise, but it goes back to what Cassidy said about complacency creeping into the Bruins’ game.
That’s something they can’t afford going into the postseason.
“We just didn’t have it early on tonight in terms of having the urgency against a team we talked about will try to score shorthanded goals, so it wasn’t like it surprised us,” said Cassidy. “This is in their DNA, so that’s the frustrating part as a coach. We kind of knew they would attempt that, and they were able to do it even though we talked about it.”
Lost in all the shenanigans and excitement on Saturday night there was a loss. The Lightning gained two points in the standings, and that’s not the end of the world, but when the dust settles on the thrilling brawls, there are still flaws for the Bruins to fix.