The Boston Bruins have allowed three games to go to overtime after giving up a one-goal lead in the final seconds, but how concerned are they about the developing trend?
BRIGHTON, Mass. – The Boston Bruins have a problem.
While they’re back on the upswing with a three-game win streak and a 17-4-3 record, the Bruins have had trouble holding onto late leads, especially when the other team pulls its goaltender to create a 6-on-5 situation.
Three times so far this season, the Bruins have carried a one-goal lead into the final 15 seconds, only to allow the tying goal while facing an empty net on the other end.
On one hand, as Bruins coach Jim Montgomery pointed out, the high number of games the Bruins end up winning – and therefore leading late – puts them in the short-handed 6-on-5 situation more often than other teams, so there are more opportunities to allow such goals.
On the other hand, the frequency in which it has happened in just 24 games is still a concern, but Montgomery was not sounding alarm bells when discussing it on Tuesday.
“We have forwards playing in those important minutes that probably haven’t done it in their career before, except for [Brad Marchand] and [Charlie Coyle],” he said. “So we got new guys in new situations, you got to expect negative results more than you if you have [David] Krejci and [Patrice] Bergeron, it’s just the way it happens.”
Coyle and Marchand are the top penalty-killing forwards on the team; they’re out there the most often among Bruins forwards, with Coyle skating 67:49 total penalty kill minutes and Marchand with 49:54, so they’re comfortable defending their end while short-handed.
In years past, as Montgomery alluded to, Bergeron and Krejci would be on the ice in those situations too. So while the Bruins have fared better than most anticipated following the losses of both centers, there’s still one situation where the team has fallen behind.
Montgomery said he knew exactly who he was sending out there to defend the 6-on-5 last season, but this year it’s been more of a trial-and-error process to find the right combination of forwards, besides Marchand and Coyle.
Another odd wrinkle is that the short-handed 6-on-5 situation is similar to the traditional 5-on-4 penalty kill, which has been one of Boston’s biggest strengths this season. They currently boast the second-best penalty kill in the NHL (89.0%), and have not allowed a power-play goal in the past three games. Yet, they’ve still been prone to collapse in the 6-on-5.
“There is a connection, and it shouldn’t be that we’re giving up, you know, as many 6-on-5 [goals] because we do have an extra player there,” Montgomery said Sunday. “And we can end the game by firing into the empty net. The only thing is the icings, right? So, it’s opportunities to play in situations where they’re either sitting on the bench or they weren’t with the Bruins last year, so it takes a little more time.”
The latest instance, where Auston Matthews tied the game 3-3 with six seconds left for the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday, turned out ok. Marchand scored the overtime winner, and while Toronto got an extra point in the Atlantic Division standings, the Bruins still got the two they were looking for.
However, the two before that – where Steven Stamkos tied it 4-4 for the Tampa Bay Lightning with five seconds left on Nov. 20, and when the Anaheim Ducks scored twice in the final 1:55 to force a 3-1 deficit into a 3-3 tie – both ended up as overtime losses for Boston.
“I think we got to show a little more poise, we got to execute better,” Montgomery said Sunday. “Seems like every goal [that] has gone in has been different. … Not giving us any excuse, but it just happens. The other team has six, and if they’re talented like Toronto, they make plays. We need to get better, but I’m glad that we’re in the opportunities that we’re in.”