Maybe rest led to unwanted rustiness
B's have lost four of last five
Rest and relaxation did not do much for the Bruins.
After a nine-day All-Star/bye week break, the B’s dropped just their second home game in regulation, losing to the Washington Capitals, 2-1, at the Garden on Saturday.
The B’s power play drought stretched to 0-for-17 with an 0-for-4 showing on Saturday. While that’s a bit misleading — three of the man-advantages were abbreviated — they had a golden chance to tie the game midway through the third period on a full two-minute advantage but they could not get the equalizer behind Darcy Kuemper.
They also got a late one with 25 seconds left in regulation for a 6-on-4 with the goalie pulled, but they could not get through the Washington defense to even it up.
The Caps are in a desperate battle for a playoff spot and, in comparison to the B’s play, it showed.
“We had 10 days off, that’s no excuse, they had 10 days off, too. They were just more desperate than us. That was the big difference,” said coach Jim Montgomery. “They won a lot of oneon-one battles, especially in the first and I thought they were really desperate in blocking shots and such.”
The B’s, now losers of four of their last five, are usually not on the wrong end in a battle of wills.
“I think the effort was there, I just think our urgency in execution wasn’t,” said Nick Foligno, the B’s lone goal scorer. “There’s no excuse for it, to be honest. That’s something this group has always found a way to do and I think every guy in there is not feeling great. It’s a feeling we’re not used to in this room, especially in this building.”
While the Caps played well defensively and Kuemper made some big saves (27 in all), the B’s were guilty of over-passing. In the third period, Charlie Coyle had a chance in tight but tried a pass that didn’t connect and, in the final frantic minute, David Pastrnak turned down a onetimer. They weren’t the only guilty parties.
“We have to have that playoff mentality of pucks to the net, bodies to the net and create havoc around there,” said Brad Marchand. “You don’t usually score those highlight-reel goals in playoff time and you don’t want to pass up an opportunity. A little more direct will definitely help.”
The B’s were on the chase most of the day.
The Caps scored the only goal of the first period after a succession of penalties after five penalties in less than two minutes gave Washington a lengthy two-minute advantage. The last two infractions were a soft hooking call on Coyle off a faceoff and an interference penalty on Hampus Lindholm when the defenseman tried to
direct Taylor Hall’s loose stick back to the wing and the stick broke up a Caps’ breakout.
On the 5-on-3, Jeremy Swayman (21 saves) could not get a hold of a loose puck at the top of the crease and Nicklas Backstrom was able to find the loose change for an easy goal at 6:28.
The Caps held a 10-7 shot advantage in the first, but the B’s turned down some prime shots. When Hall had an open lane to the net from the left wing, he elected to take it behind the net and the threat fizzled. Trent Frederic also had a chance to rip a quick shot from the left side but instead tried a crossice pass back to Marchand that never reached its destination.
The B’s had a great chance to tie it up midway through the second period when Charlie McAvoy made a nice move through the slot then fed Marchand, who was changing in, but Kuemper was able to get over to the short side to make a terrific glove save.
Then the Caps doubled their lead at 11:40. Garnet Hathaway stopped Jakob Lauko’s soft clear attempt right on the blue line, skated into the high slot and simply beat Swayman with a hard wrist shot off the crossbar and in, taking a hard, lateish hit from Connor Clifton for his effort.
But before the second was done, the B’s did get one back with 3:26 left in the period. Off the rush on the right wing, Hall’s pass for Clifton was just off and he tried to chase it down behind the net. Instead of skating through with it, Clifton knocked a backhand pass back out front on the right side and Foligno was able to jam home his eighth of the year.
With what they’ve accomplished this year, that goal felt
like the start of another Garden comeback for the B’s. But though they got 10 shots on net
in the third, the shots the B’s passed up just might have been the difference in this one.