Boston Bruins Give Up Late Lead, Fall 2-1 To Edmonton Oilers In Overtime
Pavel Zacha scored his third goal in two games in the Boston Bruins' 2-1 loss at TD Garden Tuesday night.
Boston Bruins Give Up Late Lead, Fall 2-1 To Edmonton Oilers In OvertimeThe Boston Bruins had a 1-0 lead with under two minutes remaining in the third period against the Edmonton Oilers. Then, they gave it up with 1:20 to play in regulation and lost, 2-1, in overtime.
Tuesday’s showing at TD Garden was, for the most part, familiar for the Bruins – surrender a third-period advantage, fall in overtime. However, how they played prior to allowing the late-game equalizer was different.
The B’s contained a high-flying Oilers team well, were detailed defensively and got near foolproof goaltending. It wasn’t enough, though, against a squad steered by Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl who connected for the OT winner at 2:18.
“Gotta find a way to close out a game,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said Tuesday. “This is a great opportunity for us to realize that you can’t take anything for granted because in a couple of months, it doesn't matter how tired you are at the end of a game – we’ve got to find a way to push through.”
While the Feb. 21 matchup between the teams ended with a 6-5 score and at least two goals in every period, the Bruins and Oilers remained scoreless through 40 minutes of play Tuesday.
Edmonton – who came into the night with the fourth-best power play percentage at 26.9 – got on the man advantage in the second period when Jesper Boqvist was sent to the box for high-sticking at 5:13, but it couldn’t find the back of the net.
“I thought we played a good game coming off a back-to-back against two of the best teams here in the league, good offensively. Shut them down for the most part, so I’m proud of the fellas for doing that,” Linus Ullmark said Tuesday
The Bruins had a power play in both the opening and middle frame, but also failed to convert.
Boston held Zach Hyman – who leads Edmonton with 42 goals – to zero shots in the first two periods, and held Draisaitl – who is second on the team in goals with 30 – to two shots in the same span. McDavid, expectedly, drove Edmonton’s offense in the, albeit scoreless, 40 minutes with six shots.
“I thought we did a really good job all game at limiting their chances to be honest,” Montgomery said. “I’m happy about the way we checked, I’m happy with the way we are staying above pucks, not giving up odd-man rushes.”
Pavel Zacha gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead at 4:26 of the third period with his third goal in two games –– the center potted two against Toronto Monday in his first multi-goal performance of the season. Parker Wotherspoon got the puck up to Danton Heinen by the offensive blue line who then dished it to Zacha by the right circle to blast past Skinner.
“It was good I could help the team like that. My linemates made great plays the last couple games, so I was happy I could put some in,” Zacha said Tuesday of his scoring spurt.
Hyman found the 1-1 equalizer with 1:20 remaining in regulation, knocking in McDavid’s initial backhanded shot while stationed by the left doorstep of Ullmark’s net. McDavid picked up a second assist in overtime, dishing the puck to Draisaitl who one-timed it from the right side for the 2-1 victory.
Ullmark was pretty stellar in the 24-save display, but Tuesday nonetheless marked his sixth consecutive loss when starting. The goaltender shutout the Vancouver Canucks on Feb. 8, but suffered two shootout, one regulation and now three overtime losses since then.
Boston’s struggles, however, have not been for lack of strong netminding.
“I thought Linus was great. He was awesome,” Montgomery said.
The Bruins will be back in action Thursday for a rematch – and another potential first-round preview – against the Toronto Maple Leafs at TD Garden with a 7:00 p.m. puck drop. Boston topped Toronto 4-1 Monday at Scotiabank Arena.
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