After three straight five-goal games, the Bruins’ offense dried up in what may have been Boston’s worst loss of the season.
After Sunday night’s game, coach Bruce Cassidy vented his frustration, this time focused on the Bruins’ top line.
“The top guys did not have a good night in any area of the game,” Cassidy said after the 4-0 loss to the Calgary Flames, a loss that ended the Bruins’ three-game win streak.
In particular, Cassidy was calling out the Bruins’ top power-play unit of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, David Pastrnak, Nick Foligno and Charlie McAvoy, as the Bruins went 0-for-3 with the man advantage.
“The power play took any life out of us,” Cassidy said.
The Calgary penalty kill was able to shut down the Bruins’ best goal-scorers, with the top line combining for just four shots despite being involved in three Bruins power plays. Marchand, Bergeron and Pastrnak were on the ice for two goals against, including the shorthanded score by Andrew Mangiapane.
“Sometimes it works out for them [the top power play unit] because they’re elite players and tonight it didn't against a good kill. It hurt us,” Cassidy said.
The Bruins also suffered from failed clears and untimely turnovers, with 12 giveaways on the night.
One turnover that proved costly for the Bruins was on a failed backwards pass in Boston’s defensive end by Derek Forbort that went right to Matthew Tkachuk. Five seconds later Johnny Gaudreau buried the puck in the back of the net and the Bruins trailed 1-0 just 1:29 into the game. The top line was on the ice for that goal, as well as McAvoy.
And it was a no-look turnover by Bergeron on the power play that led to a 2-on-0 breakout for the Flames and a shorthanded goal that deflated the Bruins early in the third period.
“Tonight I think we weren't bad defensively. I think the power play really hurt us,” Cassidy said. “We didn't generate any momentum on it. If anything, it generated momentum for them.”
Cassidy pin-pointed that some of the team's troubles have come as a result of not getting shots on target.
“We’re clearly off net a lot. That's been a problem all year,” he said. “When you're not getting that many [shots], it gets magnified in a game like this.”
In addition to their top players not scoring, the Bruins’ secondary scoring, which had turned a corner over the last few games, was also nowhere to be found Sunday night. Former Bruin Dan Vladar ended up with his second shutout of the season in the win, while Jeremy Swayman suffered his first home loss for Boston.
“They’re going to make it tough on the top guys to score,” Cassidy said. “Their goals against will obviously show that when you look at it. It's up to everybody to contribute and we have been lately. We've been winning some games without our top guys producing as much as they typically do. Tonight wasn't one of those nights.”
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