Bruins lose game, player to injury, in Seattle
Coming off their worst loss of the season, the Bruins did themselves absolutely no favors in the opening minutes of Thursday’s showdown with the Kraken at Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena.
The game was just 16 seconds old when David Pastrnak was whistled for a high stick behind the net in the attacking zone, and it took just eight seconds of power-play time for Oliver Bjorkstrand to make him pay for a 1-0 lead. And less than three minutes after that, another offensive-zone penalty by the Bruins, this time a trip from Tyler Johnson, put the Bruins back on the kill and a Jaden Schwartz backhander just four seconds after the penalty expired doubled the Kraken lead in the blink of an eye.
And that was ultimately all the Kraken needed in what finished as a 5-1 victory over the Bruins.
Unfortunately for the Bruins, there’s no comfort to be found in the final score, especially after the Bruins simply didn’t get enough to show for an opening 40-minute stretch that saw them outshoot Seattle by a 25-14 mark, and headlined by a penalty-shot strike from Brad Marchand in the second period.
Much like in Winnipeg, however, the third period was a nightmare for the B’s, with three goals allowed, pushing them up to eight third-period goals surrendered over the first two games of this road trip that’ll feature stops in Vancouver, Calgary, and Edmonton before the team returns back to Boston.
The Bruins also suffered an in-game loss, too, with Elias Lindholm ruled out ahead of the third period of play due to an upper-body injury. Lindholm, who has been centering Boston’s second line for the majority of the season, finished Thursday’s game with six hits and wins in five of nine faceoffs.
The Bruins’ Joonas Korpisalo stopped 16 of 20 in the losing effort for his first defeat since an overtime loss to the Blues back on Nov. 16, snapping a three-start win streak for Korpisalo, while Seattle’s Philipp Grubauer posted a 33-of-34 line at the other end en route to the win for the Kraken.
Elsewhere in the lineup, Tyler Johnson jumped back into action for his first appearance since Nov. 29 against Pittsburgh. Beyond the aforementioned penalty, the Washington-born Johnson contributed one shot and one hit, but finished with a brutal minus-4 rating.
With Johnson in the lineup, Marc McLaughlin sat as the Black and Gold’s healthy scratch up front.
And with Mason Lohrei scratched from the blue line, Parker Wotherspoon jumped back in for his first game since Black Friday’s home-ice loss to the Pens. Wotherspoon finished Thursday’s game with three hits and a blocked shot in 17:46 of time on ice.
The Bruins will continue this road trip Saturday night in Vancouver.
