Boston Bruins

Boston Bruins

Boston Bruins

Dec 19, 2023; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Bruins center Pavel Zacha (18) gets tripped up after being stopped by Minnesota Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury (29) during the third period at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports

The Bruins officially have a lead-protecting problem.

And sure, there’s something to be said for the Bruins’ ability to salvage a point with a late-game, game-tying power-play goal from Brad Marchand, the Bruin’s third-period struggles are what put them in that position in the first place. Holding a one-goal lead through 40 minutes of play, the Bruins allowed the Wild to open things up on them entirely too much in the final frame, and put a strain on Linus Ullmark that simply wasn’t fair to their goaltender.

The end result: Boston’s sixth loss when leading after 40 minutes this season.

It’s as bad as it sounds, too. With the loss, Boston’s win percentage when leading after two periods dropped down to .684, which is 29th in the league. Only the Columbus Blue Jackets (second-worst team in the Eastern Conference), the under .500 Calgary Flames, and league-worst San Jose Sharks have been worse on that front.

That is absolutely not the company you want to find yourself in at any point in 2023-24, to be honest. Unless you’re talking trade partners and stripping away some of the pieces from that team to make your team better.

  • Here are the 98.5 The Sports Hub (dot com) 3 Stars from a loss at TD Garden…

  • No. 3 Star: David Pastrnak

    Dec 19, 2023; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Bruins right wing David Pastrnak (88) lets go with a shot in front of Minnesota Wild left wing Kirill Kaprizov (97) during the first period at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports

    Dec 19, 2023; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Bruins right wing David Pastrnak (88) lets go with a shot in front of Wild left wing Kirill Kaprizov (97) during the first period at TD Garden. (Winslow Townson/USA TODAY Sports)

  • Two goals, including their first of the night and the go-ahead goal with half a second left in the first period, and 11 shots on goal. Consider it just another day at the office for Bruins superstar David Pastrnak.

    By now, Pastrnak’s offensive wizardry is not just the norm, but expected for the Bruins to hang with teams every night. With direct involvement (a goal or assist) in 43 of Boston’s 95 goals to date this season, Pastrnak has had a hand in 45.3 percent of their total team scoring. Again, the team almost has to be put on his back every night for the Bruins to hang with some of the league’s run-and-gun, speedier teams.

    Pastrnak’s 11 shots, meanwhile, were the most by a Bruins skater since Tyler Seguin landed 12 shots on goal in an Apr. 2, 2013 head-to-head with the Senators.

    This game also featured a definite rarity of sorts, as the Bruins wasted the multi-goal performance.

  • No. 2 Star: Kirill Kaprizov

    Dec 19, 2023; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Minnesota Wild left wing Kirill Kaprizov (97) smiles as he is congratulated at the bench after scoring against the Boston Bruins during the third period at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports

    Dec 19, 2023; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Wild left wing Kirill Kaprizov (97) smiles as he is congratulated at the bench after scoring against the Boston Bruins during the third period at TD Garden. (Winslow Townson/USA TODAY Sports)

  • So, that 2015 NHL Draft is going to haunt the Bruins forever, huh?

    Now, I hear you from here. Kyle Connor wasn’t in this game. Nor was Matt Barzal nor Thomas Chabot. But did you know that Kirill Kaprizov landed in Minnesota thanks to a draft weekend trade by the Bruins back in 2015? It was during that first weekend on the job that the Bruins traded their fifth-round pick (the No. 135 overall pick) to Minnesota for a fifth-round pick in 2016 (later used to select Cameron Clarke). The Wild then used that pick on, you guessed it, Kirill Kaprizov. Oh, what a kick in the junk.

    And Kaprizov delivered another Tuesday night at TD Garden, as he scored game-tying goal in the third period that erased Boston’s 2-1 lead, and then added the dagger with a one-time finish on a 3-on-1 look.

    Kaprizov has now scored five goals in four career head-to-heads against the Bruins.

  • No. 1 Star: Marc-Andre Fleury

    Dec 19, 2023; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy (73) looks for a rebound under Minnesota Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury (29) during the third period at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports

    Dec 19, 2023; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy (73) looks for a rebound under Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury (29) during the third period at TD Garden. (Winslow Townson/USA TODAY Sports)

  • At 39 years old, Marc-Andre Fleury doesn’t have too many career starts at TD Garden left in the tank.

    Fleury is also on the last year of his current contract, and who knows what the future hold for him. So, if Tuesday night at TD Garden was Fleury’s Boston swan song, holy crap, did he go out with a bang.

    In goal for a stellar 40-of-43 performance, Fleury stoned the Bruins again and again throughout the evening, and looked like a damn street hockey goalie throughout the showing. He was diving and pad-stacking all over the ice, and left Boston shooters looking skyward on more than one occasion.

    “You did sense [frustration] because we had great looks and he was being his Fleury self,” Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery said of the Minnesota goalie. “He was reading it well and he was really agile getting it going left to right.”

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