Nobody can accuse the Bruins of going about their tank job halfheartedly.
The undermanned B’s absorbed their seventh straight loss Wednesday night time, getting thumped, 6-2, by an enhancing Anaheim Geese crew that has a number of younger expertise however will miss the playoffs but once more.
The loss might have been one other embarrassing one, nevertheless it was productive for the Bruins’ long-term objectives. The Geese jumped over the B’s within the total NHL standings, placing the B’s in twenty fifth place within the 32-team league. Relying on how the ping-pong balls bounce within the draft lottery, the B’s may wind up with an excellent decide.
They’re positive incomes it.
On Wednesday, the B’s had been outplayed by the Geese from starting to finish and had been outshot 38-25, although 16 of these Bruin photographs got here within the third interval when the sport was already determined. Joonas Korpisalo, although not good, was by far the perfect Bruin on the night time.
The Bruins’ protection corps, already undermanned with Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm nonetheless out, acquired even thinner after Nikita Zadorov needed to return to Boston to take care of a household matter, based on the crew.
And it confirmed. Korpisalo was beneath siege all through the primary interval because the B’s had been outshot 15-5 within the opening 20 minutes.
It appeared as if Korpisalo had gotten his teammates out of the woods however, after David Pastrnak drew a penalty, the B’s had been singed for his or her eleventh shorthanded objective towards at 17:33.
On what had already been an ineffective energy play, Pastrnak couldn’t hold Leo Carlsson from breaking out of the zone and he took off on a 2-on-1 with Alex Killorn. When the push arrived within the Boston zone, Mason Lohrei couldn’t forestall Killorn’s return go from getting again to Carlsson, who’d crushed Elias Lindholm up the ice and he roofed the puck over Korpisalo for the 1-0 lead.
The B’s slowed down the Anaheim taking pictures gallery for some time within the second interval however the Geese would ultimately crank it up once more and head into the second intermission with a three-goal lead, thanks to 2 personal objectives and a softy.
At 13:58, the Geese took a 2-0 lead on a tough sequence for Michael Callahan. First, the puck hopped over his stick on the offensive blue line and Nikita Nesterenko was off to the races. Korpisalo stopped Nesterenko’s preliminary shot however the rebound went off Callahan’s skate and in. To make issues worse, Callahan was nailed with a double-minor for high-sticking on Jansen Harkins because the puck was hitting off Callahan.
However the B’s would get the subsequent objective. The Nesterenko objective nullified one of many minors and 58 seconds into the second minor, Troy Terry was nailed for high-sticking. Then, in an ensuing scrum, Frank Vatrano was referred to as for a roughing minor and a 10-minute misconduct.
When the B’ ultimately acquired to the 5-on-3, Pastrnak scored his thirty fifth objective of the season with a snipe previous John Gibson’s glove at 16:20. It’s the fourth straight season he’s hit that 35-goal plateau.
However then the underside fell out on the B’s as they allowed two objectives in 48 seconds.
First, Jackson LaCombe flipped the puck out entrance from behind the B’s web, it hit Pavel Zacha’s arm and fell behind Korpisalo.
Then Korpisalo, who’d been doing every thing he may to that time to maintain the B’s within the sport, let in a foul one. Cutter Gauthier got here off the left boards and threw a tender, dangerous angle shot that by some means squeaked by the quick aspect at 18:45.
The B’s had been outshot 13-4 within the second. It was a pattern that didn’t counsel any sort of comeback was on faucet.
It wasn’t. Early within the third, Pastrnak turned over the puck within the defensive zone to LaCombe, who fed Carlsson for his second of the sport.
After a Callahan-Harkins bout, Anaheim’s Mason McTavish and Morgan Geekie (26) traded objectives in rubbish time.
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