Bruins blanked by Maple Leafs in Toronto
Even after a back-to-back sweep, and with the Bruins looking like the defensively sound club the Bruins they want to be along the way, Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery was not ready to declare his team out of the woods and back to the standard they’ve set under his watch.
Tuesday night in Toronto was a tremendous example as to why, it turned out, as the Bruins fell back into their familiar and troubling patterns on the way to a 4-0 loss to the Maple Leafs.
Those issues came on both the penalty kill and power play, with the Bruins surrendering three power-play goals against in a single game for the fourth time this season while their power play stumbled and fumbled their way to an 0-for-6 mark in the Toronto end. The power-play woes went beyond the donut, too, as the Bruins took opportunity-ending penalties on two separate occasions during that 0-for-6.
“The special teams obviously hurt us today,” Bruins winger David Pastrnak said after the loss.
And similarly to last week’s disaster in Carolina, this one seemed to get away from the Bruins quickly, with Toronto on the board with two power-play strikes in a 74-second span in the middle frame.
The truly nightmarish part of all it beyond the obvious point that all three penalties that led to Toronto’s power-play goals were just downright bad penalties to take comes with the fact that Toronto entered this contest with their power play clicking at just 10 percent (31st-ranked in the NHL) on the year.
And in the event that their own struggles weren’t enough of a roadblock, the Bruins were also stoned repeatedly by the Maple Leafs’ Anthony Stolarz, who turned aside all 29 shots thrown his way.
Jeremy Swayman, meanwhile, took the loss behind a 23-of-26 performance at the other end.
Up front, Tyler Johnson made his Bruins debut after officially signing his one-year contract with the club on Monday evening. Playing in a third-line role, the 34-year-old Johnson finished Boston’s loss with one hit and one shot on goal in 13:51 of time on ice.
With Johnson in, the struggling Morgan Geekie (two assists in 11 games) sat as Boston’s healthy scratch up front, while defenseman Mason Lohrei watched from the press box for the second straight contest.
Lohrei’s stretch of watching could come to an end next time the Bruins hit the ice, though, with Andrew Peeke an early departure from this contest after a first-period hit from Max Pacioretty.
Peeke, who played just 4:49 of time on ice in the loss, was ruled out with an upper-body injury before the Bruins returned to the ice for the second period.
The Bruins will now return home for a Thursday night head-to-head with the Flames.
