After combining for 11 goals in their last meeting, which came less than two weeks ago up in Edmonton, the Bruins and Oilers put on a different kind of show Tuesday night at TD Garden.
In fact, it was a night where neither team found themselves able to get a bounce on either goaltender until a Pavel Zacha blast through the Oilers’ Stuart Skinner with 15:34 remaining in the third period broke the 0-0 stalemate.
But for the Bruins, an ugly pattern returned before the final horn, as the Bruins lost a defensive-zone faceoff cleanly, found themselves unable to disrupt a clean D-to-D pass, and then watched helplessly as a pop-fly style goal went up and over Linus Ullmark and into the back of the Boston net to knot things up with 1:20 remaining in regulation.
It was the kind of backbreaking goal that’s been all too common for the Bruins this season, and one that helped set the stage for the club’s latest setback, this one by a 2-1 overtime final at TD Garden.
Mar 5, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid (97) eyes Boston Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy (73) as he looks to get around him during the first period at TD Garden. (Winslow Townson/USA TODAY Sports)
For the Bruins, who were on the second leg of a back-to-back (they didn’t get back from Toronto until 3 a.m. this morning), this game was a true mixed bag.
The Bruins were happy with the way they checked, and the way they checked cleanly against an Edmonton club that boasts an absolutely lethal power play. In fact, Montgomery said that it was the Black and Gold’s checking game that allowed them to hang with the Oilers at all in this game.
This was especially true in regards to how the Bruins handled the McDavid matchup in regulation, with No. 97 stood up by the Bruins, even with his signature blazing speed bursting through the neutral zone again and again. Boston’s checking game was enough to get McDavid bothered enough to have an animated discussion with the on-ice officials following the conclusion of the second period of play, too.
The B’s also got some big-time timely saves from Linus Ullmark before the game-tying goal, too, with none bigger than Ullmark’s stop on Leon Draisaitl’s one-time blast to the left of Ullmark’s net with Edmonton on the power play late in the third period of play.
But the Bruins failed to parlay that into chances at the other end, as confirmed by their one-goal output in this game, and off what seemed like a rather stoppable shot on Skinner no less.
Dec 3, 2023; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Bruins left wing James van Riemsdyk (21) gets set for a face-off during the third period against the Columbus Blue Jackets at TD Garden. (Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports)
It was another milestone night at TD Garden, too, as James van Riemsdyk skated in his 1,000th NHL game. The 6-foot-3 wing is the second Bruin to hit that milestone this season (Brad Marchand did it last month), and the fourth over the last three seasons overall, as Nick Foligno hit the milestone in his first season with the Bruins in 2021-22 while David Krejci reached it last season.
On a lineup front, and even with the club on the second leg of a traveling back-to-back, defenseman Derek Forbort remained a healthy scratch for the second straight game, and for the fourth time in the last five outings.
