Bruins beat themselves on way to 5-3 loss to Oilers
Not a single lead proved to be safe for the Bruins on Thursday night at TD Garden, as the Bruins squandered their one-goal edge three times on the way to a 5-3 loss to Leon Draisaitl and the Oilers.
But the most painful one for the Bruins undoubtedly came in the third period, as Brandon Carlo flubbed a D-to-D pass to give Draisaitl an uncontested look on Linus Ullmark to tie things up at 3-3, and then had a miscommunication with Matt Grzelcyk on the Oilers’ fourth goal of the night, which again left Draisaitl all alone with nothing but Ullmark in front of him.
Draisaitl’s two goals in 3:04 made the difference by the night’s end (Cody Ceci added an insurance tally before the game concluded), but the Bruins helped ’em out plenty along the way, with countless mistakes at both ends of the us.
We absolutely beat ourselves. 100 percent. I gotta do a better job. When a team beats itself that’s on us as a staff,” Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy said. “Everybody makes mistakes. But these ones really impacted the game.
“Some of the mistakes we made are just… lack of focus.”
The first Draisaitl goal is what really highlighted that in the defensive zone, too.
Unreal primary assist by Brandon Carlo pic.twitter.com/i1Lz2sWslM
— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) November 12, 2021
“That’s just one of those nights,” Carlo said after the loss. “That third period, probably one of the worst ones in my NHL career. I didn’t respond very well. Great learning experience.”
“It sucks,” Ullmark, who made 23 saves in the losing effort, admitted. “Especially when you feel like you have a good grasp on the game. It’s something we can learn from to play a full 60-minute game. Myself included.”
Boston’s goals came from a familiar source, too, as David Pastrnak broke the ice with a snipe through Mikko Koskinen at the 4:45 mark of the first period, while Brad Marchand scored the B’s second goal of the evening. Carlo got on the board with the Black and Gold’s third goal of the night, and with Pastrnak providing the screen on Koskinen.
David Pastrnak opens the scoring in this one.
— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) November 12, 2021
He needed that. pic.twitter.com/c9aa2DCeIO
But below the first line — and even including the first line, for that matter — deferring shots in the offensive zone remained a problem, with the Bruins turning down numerous high-quality looks in the third period in search of the perfect play.
“Definitely overpassed today and it’s unacceptable,” said Pastrnak. “Gotta get a shooting mentality in our heads and be a little bit aware of the situation and score.”
Edmonton’s victory put an end to the Black and Gold’s five-game winning streak at TD Garden.
Bruins forward Nick Foligno made his return to the Boston lineup after missing the last eight games with an upper-body injury. The 34-year-old Foligno skated on Boston’s second line with Charlie Coyle and Taylor Hall, and finished with two shots and six hits in 14:58 of time on ice. Anton Blidh also made his return to action and finished with four hits in 12:40.
Up next, the Bruins will head to New Jersey for a Saturday matinee against the Devils.
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Ty Anderson is a writer and columnist for 985TheSportsHub.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group, or any subsidiaries. Yell at him on Twitter: @_TyAnderson.
