The Bruins did pretty much every single thing they could have in Tuesday’s head-to-head with the Canucks except score.
They outshot the Canucks by a 32-15 mark (and out-attempted them 72-31), they won almost 60 percent of their total faceoffs, and they even forced the Canucks into 16 giveaways and forced the Canucks to break out the ice packs by the night’s end, with the Canucks having to lay the body down for 26 blocked shots.
But unfortunately for the Bruins, scoring is still a critical part of the National Hockey League, and especially so in 2024, and it’s the one thing they could not do in this game. Not even with a last gasp that featured back-to-back-to-back looks from the Bruins, as it was a shutout at the hands of the visiting Canucks that delivered the Bruins their first loss of the Joe Sacco era, a 2-0 final at TD Garden.
Third Star: Pavel Zacha
Nov 7, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Bruins center Pavel Zacha (18) shoots the puck during the first period against the Calgary Flames at TD Garden. (Bob DeChiara/Imagn Images)
The Bruins absolutely need more out of their top-six forward grouping, there’s no doubt about that. And just about everybody within that group is currently performing below their expected level. But Tuesday felt like a definite step in the right direction for B’s forward Pavel Zacha, who had one of his more complete games of the season despite the obvious 0-0-0 goose egg to his name in the box score.
Deployed for 19:53 of action, Zacha finished this contest with two shots, a hit, and a takeaway, and also collected wins in eight of his 13 battles at the dot for a 62 percent success rate. And at five-on-five, the Bruins straight-up owned the puck with Zacha out there, with an 18-1 shot-attempt advantage and 10-0 shots edge in his 15:01.
Zacha also had a great look on the power play, and had a tremendous feed for a David Pastrnak breakaway that did not go the Bruins’ way in the second period.
What’s interesting here is that Zacha remains without a point during the three-game sample of the Sacco Era, but he has been one of the more noticeable forwards, with 11 shots on goal and wins in 25 of his 40 faceoffs overall.
Second Star: Jake DeBrusk
Nov 26, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Canucks left wing Jake DeBrusk (74) is congratulated by smiling teammates after scoring on his former team, the Boston Bruins during the second period at TD Garden. (Winslow Townson-Imagn Images)
Just knowing how these things tend to go, and especially how they went for him at times throughout his Boston tenure, Jake DeBrusk scoring in his first game back in Boston had to feel like the lock of all locks, right? And sure enough, that’s exactly what it was, as DeBrusk scored the only non-empty net strike in this contest.
Beyond the goal, DeBrusk was tied for the most shots among all Vancouver skaters, with three.
And in case you’re wondering, DeBrusk is currently paced for what would be a career-high 57 points this season.
First Star: Kevin Lankinen
Nov 26, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Bruins center Elias Lindholm (28) tries to get to a loose puck next to Vancouver Canucks goaltender Kevin Lankinen (32) during the first period at TD Garden. (Winslow Townson/Imagn Images)
When it’s your night, it’s your night, and Tuesday night at TD Garden was Kevin Lankinen‘s night.
Peppered for 33 shots (though the total was later dropped down to 32), Lankinen refused to give the Bruins much of anything, and slammed the door on the Bruins for a shutout victory. It was a night that at times featured the 6-foot-2 Finn swimming around in his crease, sure, but the puck never crossed the line, with feelings of “How the hell did that stay out?” becoming borderline constant throughout the second half of this contest.
Lankinen’s night, which was headlined by a perfect 13-for-13 effort on high-danger shots (per NaturalStatTrick), also extended what’s been a dominating road run to date, with an 8-0-0 record and .941 save percentage away from Vancouver this season. That .941 save percentage, by the way, is the best among goaltenders with at least seven road starts this season.
