With the rut that the luckless Bruins are stuck in, even their mothers can't pull them out of it.
With the moms along for the ride on the annual family trip, the B's furious third-period comeback attempt fell short and their losing streak stretched to six (0-5-1) with a 4-1 loss to the Lightning in Tampa.
The B's goal scoring woes, puck management and their exploding cigar of a power play put them in a hole in the second period that they could not extricate themselves. They gave up a shorthanded goal and another preventable tally in the middle period then could manage only goal themselves in a spirited third period as the Bolts leapfrogged them over them in the standings.
“We're shooting ourselves in the foot,” Morgan Geekie told reporters in Tampa. “Time and time again, I feel like most of these mistakes are kind of (self-inflicted) but we have to figure it out in this room and we have guys that can do that. I believe in each and every one of those guys in the room. It's something that we have to figure out. Our coaching staff has given us all the tools and systems and it's on us to execute. It's something we haven't been doing. We've got to learn to build our game from the start of the first puck drop and play a full 60. It's unacceptable at this level at this time of year. Frustrations going to keep growing if we don't clean things up.”
It is the B's longest losing streak since they lost six straight in March 2015, when they finished out of the playoffs and GM Peter Chiarelli was fired, making way for current GM Don Sweeney, who no doubt is contemplating some kind of move to improve his obviously lacking team.
The Bruins tempted fate in the scoreless first period and survived. They gave the Lightning's explosive power play two opportunities and they killed both of them.
And Jeremy Swayman (27 saves) continued his excellent work from the Edmonton game in the first. He made several good stops, the best of which may have been a stick save on a Brayden Point backdoor chance.
Even at 5-on-5, the B’s spent more time in their own zone than they wanted, thanks to a couple of unforced turnovers but they were able to overcome them as well.
But it wasn’t a lopsided period. The Bolts had a 11-9 shot advantage but, once the B’s killed the second PP, the start to push back. Oliver Wahlstrom had two great chances late in the period. He tried to go backhand on Andrei Vasilevskiy and was thwarted. He recovered his own rebound but sent his forehand shot just wide.
Still spending too much time in their own end, the B’s got the next penalty in the second period when Nikita Zadorov took his second of the game, a hold on Mikey Eyssimont. Thanks to Swayman, they killed that one off, too, and should have gotten their first power play chance when, in the waning seconds of the Lightning PP, Brandon Hagel interfered with Pavel Zacha. But when Zacha dove to knock the puck out of the zone in a continuance the play, he was wrongly called for an embellishment.
The B’s had their best chance when Geekie stole the puck from Vasilevskiy behind the net and he fed David Pastrnak at the left side of the net. With Vasilevskiy scrambling to get back in the net, Pastrnak fed John Beecher for what looked like a tap-in, but Beecher shot it back into Vasilevskiy.
The B’s finally did get a power play when Victor Hedman hauled down Beecher, but it was yet another disaster.
The B’s changed the power play units, putting Mason Lohrei on the top unit and splitting up Brad Marchand and Pastrnak. It didn’t matter. Once again, Pastrnak turned it over on a zone entry and Ryan McDonagh threw a bank pass up the ice. Hagel caught up to it for a breakaway. Thanks to a little stick work from Lohrei from behind, Hegel’s shot went wide. But it bounced hard off the end boards and Swayman lost where the puck was. It bounced straight back out to Anthony Cirelli, who roofed it over Swayman’s shoulder at 14:07.
Then came the back breaker. In the final minute of the period, Swayman gave up a soft one to Eyssimont. With Andrew Peeke caught up ice, Eyssimont broke in a rush and had Lohrei backing up too much before he beat Swayman to the shortside with a wrister with 50 seconds left in the period. It held up as the game-winner.
Considering the B’s weren’t exactly peppering Vasilevskiy, the two-goal deficit looked mountainous at that point.
But the B’s did fight back, and Lohrei redeemed himself with his second of the year at 2:05 of the third. Lohrei took a feed from Peeke at his left point position, walked down to the high slot and he beat Vasilevskiy with a wrist shot. It was the first goal from a Bruin defenseman since Dec. 3.
Swayman kept the B’s in the game with tough stops on Jake Guentzel and then Hagel. Then the B’s started to apply their best pressure of the game. Beecher looked like he had the equalizer on his stick off a rebound of Mark Kastelic shot but he put it over the net. Then Geekie clanged the crossbar. That's as close the B's got.
“We were playing a good game, then we get a bad bounce on the power play there,” said Lohrei. “I liked our compete in the third, but it can't always just come down to our compete in the third. You have to play a full 60 minutes. We have to figure that out.”
Finally, Hagel ended it with an empty netter with 1:32 left in regulation. Point added another one on a power play with 35 seconds to go.
If the loss wasn't bad enough, Kastelic went in for a late hit on Emil Lilleberg and Lilleberg crosschecked him under the chin. Kastelic threw some punches before Lilleberg threw him to the ice and Kastelic seemed dazed as he went off. It wasn't clear if the damage was done on the crosscheck or Kastelic's head hitting the ice. Lilleberg was given a major and game misconduct, but with two seconds left, it didn't matter much, other than any possible injury to Kastelic.
The B's were understandably hot after that ending.
“It was a pretty cheap crosscheck, I thought,” said Geekie. “I don't blame (Kastelic) for what he did.”
The B's get the Lightning again at the Garden on Tuesday, but they face the defending Stanley Cup champion Panthers on Saturday in Sunrise. Not an easy way to snap a losing streak.