Bruins hang around but come up empty late in 3-2 loss to Wild
The Boston Bruins lost for the first time since returning from an extended break on Thursday night, dropping a tough one to the Minnesota Wild by a 3-2 final. Four of the five total goals came on power plays, the exception being the game-winner for Minnesota.
Boston drew first blood at the tail end of a 4-on-3 power play in the opening period, when Taylor Hall one-timed a Mike Reilly past through Wild goalie Mikko Koskinen. The B’s started at 5-on-3.
The Wild ended up getting a two-man advantage of their own when Brad Marchand and Brandon Carlo were called for concurrent penalties (for holding and interference, respectively). They cashed in on both power plays, starting with Kirill Kaprizov’s his 14th goal of the season, on a similar play to Hall’s. Nico Sturm delivered the double-dagger just 1:23 later, deflecting a bomb from the point by Jonas Brodin over the left shoulder of Jeremy Swayman. The young Bruins goalie was able to fend off a late flurry of shot attempts in the closing seconds of the first.
But Minnesota winger and Milford, Mass. native Matt Boldy made it 3-1 anyway when he finished a slick give-and-go from Marcus Foligno in the slot for his NHL debut ✅
First career goal ✅
That's definitely a @PPG Colorful Moment for Matt Boldy! pic.twitter.com/WNuVPrEWrE
Brad Marchand quickly answered Boldy’s goal when he scored on a Bruins power play just 3:09 later. Marchand is up to 12 goals and 31 points in 25 games this season.
The Boldy goal turned out to be the game-winner for the Wild. That’s despite the Bruins out-shooting them 16-6 in the third period, including 12-5 at 5-on-5. The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for the Bruins.
According to the heatmap at Natural Stat Trick, the majority of Boston’s 5-on-5 shot attempts came from above the faceoff dots.
The Bruins (17-11-2) are scheduled to get back to action on Saturday, on the road against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
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Matt Dolloff is a writer and podcaster for 985TheSportsHub.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group, or any subsidiaries. Have a news tip, question, or comment for Matt? Yell at him on Twitter @mattdolloff and follow him on Instagram @mattydsays. You can also email him at mdolloff@985thesportshub.com.
