Clipped by Wings, trip to Dallas another test
DALLAS — By midway through the first period Saturday night in Detroit, the Bruins were in prime position for an easy win over the Red Wings. They had a 2-0 lead on the scoreboard, Vezina Trophy winner Linus Ullmark in net, and a 12-6 shot advantage that offered a fair reflection of how the night was going.
So it wasn’t a false start, but it soon became false promise.
“Didn’t come out on top,” said veteran defenseman Brandon Carlo, after the Red Wings poured in three quick goals in the third period and powered to a 5-4 win. “But we’re going to continue to learn from this and move forward.”
After their first loss in regulation this season, the Bruins traveled to Dallas for Monday night’s trip-closer against the Stars. After a 2-0 loss to Vancouver on Saturday, Dallas is 7-2-1 overall, which Sunday morning had them ranked No. 5 in the league’s overall standings — tied with, yep, the Red Wings, at 15 points.
Peeved over a number of questionable calls by referees Mike Markovic and Garrett Rank, Bruins coach Jim Montgomery was at his boiling point when the final horn sounded Saturday. Postgame, though, the club’s second-year bench boss had a even-handed assessment of his club.
With three of his regular defensemen out of service, including suspended Charlie McAvoy, Montgomery was well aware of the challenge the speedy Red Wings presented. The deficit along the blue line, and the overall remake of the roster after the departures of Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci, means there will be a learning curve for a team that went a recordsetting 65-12-5 last season.
In the moment, especially in meltdowns like Saturday night, all the reasons and history can get lost in the fog of battle. But Montgomery is nothing if not realistic. Once finally in flight, the speedy Wings were too much for the Bruins, who were burned twice on the penalty kill after allowing one power-play goal the prior 10 games.
“They were moving it quicker than we could defend it,” noted Montgomery.
Once rookie Matt Poitras tucked in his backhander for the 2-0 lead at 9:28 of the first, the Bruins offense went curiously dormant. The Red Wings owned an 8-0 shot advantage for the remainder of the period, and cut the lead in half by the break on Lucas Raymond’s power-play goal. When Jake Walman ripped home another man-up tally at 9:59 of the second to tie it, the Wings had outshot the Bruins, 16-4, from the time of that 2-0 lead.
It was the second game in a row in which the Bruins surrendered a 2-0 lead, the same thing happening 48 hours earlier against the Leafs at TD Garden. On Oct. 26, they held a two-goal lead over the Ducks with two minutes to go and watched that disappear, too, in a 4-3 overtime defeat.
“I think we’re going to see more of this than what we saw last year, just because of our group,” said Montgomery.
Forbort return would help
The Bruins had a scheduled day off on Sunday, possibly allowing injured blue liner Derek Forbort enough rest to return to action.
The veteran left shot, who typically pairs with Carlo on the No. 1 penalty-kill unit, put in some extra reps at Saturday’s late-morning skate in Detroit.
“I thought our defensemen played well,” said Montgomery, who shored up the compromised backline Saturday with Mason Lohrei (career game No. 2), Parker Wotherspoon ,and Ian Mitchell — a group with 102 career NHL games. “I mean, when you’re missing the defensemen that we’re missing, it would have an impact in our poise to break pucks out and our poise to transition pucks and defend our own net.”
Defensemen Matt Grzelcyk (injured) and McAvoy remained home in Boston, leaving Forbort the only potential upgrade for Monday’s game.
Bringing up bad history
David Quinn’s bedraggled San Jose Sharks (0-10-1) just became the first team in 58 years to give up 10 goals in consecutive games. They followed Thursday’s 10-1 loss to the Canucks with a 10-2 thumping by Fenway Sports Group’s Penguins. Both games were on Sharks home ice.
The last club to yield 10-spots in backto-back games: the Bruins in December 1965. They took a 10-2 belting at the Detroit Olympia on Dec. 2, and then returned home Dec. 4, where they were humiliated by the Black Hawks, 10-1.
In Detroit, Norm Ullman rolled up a sixpoint night (3 goals) against Bruin goalies Gerry Cheevers and Bernie Parent.
Two nights later, Phil Esposito delivered two goals and an assist for the
Hawks. Coach Milt Schmidt left Parent, a 20-year-old rookie, in net for all 10 goals.
Less than a calendar year later, 18-yearold Bobby Orr made his debut on the Boston backline, along with rookie bench boss Harry Sinden.
Pasta once again tasty
David Pastrnak, who hammered home a power-play goal that closed the scoring in Detroit, landed seven shots on net, two shy of his season high. As of Sunday morning, Pastrnak was second in the league for total shots (52), one shy of Colorado star Nathan MacKinnon . . . The Stars flew back here after Saturday night’s loss in Vancouver in which ex-BU goalie Jake Oettinger (5-1-1) was outdueled by ex-BC counterpart Thatcher Demko (career shutout No. 5) . . . Ex-Maine Black Bear Jeremy Swayman (5-0-0) will be in the Boston net Monday, opposed either by Oettinger or Scott Wedgewood . . . The Bruins posted backto-back regulation losses only once last year, in games 65 and 66 on March 12 and 14... Roope Hintz, among the game’s fastest, most dynamic skaters, leads the Dallas offense (5-6–11), followed by the ageless Joe Pavelski (4-6–10). The 205th pick in the 2003 draft — also known as the Bergeron draft — Pavelski has 1,011 career points. Bergeron, the 45th pick, retired with 1,040 . . . The Bruins entertain the Islanders Thursday night on Garden ice, and then face the Canadiens on Saturday in their first visit this season to Montreal.