Bruins fall to Canucks in shootout
RECAP: The Bruins got their first ‘loser point’ of the year in Saturday’s shootout loss, but have now dropped three of their last four games.
Dec 20, 2025; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Bruins right wing David Pastrnak (88) passes the puck between Vancouver Canucks defenseman Filip Hronek (17) and defenseman Elias Pettersson (25) during the third period at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images
The Bruins finally earned their first 'loser point' of the season Saturday night at TD Garden. But the real problem for the Bruins, who dropped a 5-4 shootout final to the Canucks to earn that point, is that in came in what should have been and what was an extremely winnable game for the Black and Gold.
Especially with the Bruins up 3-2 through 40 minutes of action, and with Boston entering play with a 16-0-0 record this season when leading after two periods.
"Definitely disappointing," Bruins winger Mark Kastelic said following the defeat. "This felt like a game we should’ve definitely had."
The Bruins began the game with a first-period power-play goal from Morgan Geekie, which was good for Geekie's 25th goal of the campaign. In doing so, Geekie became the sixth Bruins player since 1970 to score at least 25 goals through the first 36 games of a season, and the first since David Pastrnak.
But what was a dominant first period effort from the Bruins ended on a sour note, as the B's allowed the Canucks to even things up with just 15 seconds remaining in the frame, and on what was just their fourth shot of the frame.
In addition to the Geekie power-play strike, the Bruins got goals from Pavel Zacha, Tanner Jeannot, and were able to force overtime behind a game-tying strike from Andrew Peeke with just 3:44 remaining in the third period of play.
The Bruins then dominated the overtime frame to a 6-2 shot advantage, but were unable to beat the Canucks' Kevin Lankinen (38 saves) for the game-winning goal.
And in the shootout, the Bruins went an ugly 0-for-7, while the Canucks were able to grab the win with Liam Öhgren's goal in the top of the seventh round. One of the more unusual choices for the Bruins in the shootout came in the bottom of the fourth round, as the Bruins decided to go with Peeke as their fourth shooter.
After the game, Bruins head coach Marco Sturm said that Peeke has a move that's been successful when the team has practiced shootout attempts, but noted that Peeke did not use that move in his attempt.
Bruins netminder Jeremy Swayman allowed four goals on 22 shots in the loss, which came in his fourth straight start for the club.
The Bruins will have a quick turnaround to redeem themselves, with the club set to host Linus Ullmark and the Sens on Sunday night.
