That dose is that the skill drop off between Boston and Buffalo is a lot steeper in Buffalo’s favor than in Boston’s.
1st Period
Things started okay for the Bruins! After a faceoff in the neutral zone went for Boston,
the B’s recovered the puck and gave it to David Pastrnak, who put a bullet past Luukkonen to get the Bruins on the board! 1-0 Bruins
No further scoring, and we go to the 2nd period
2nd Period
Things got off to a bad start when the Sabres only needed 3 minutes and change to not only tie it, but also take the lead off of a Ryan McLeod shot and a Peyton Krebs re-direct.
Things got even worse with a Mattias Samuelsson goal that came off of a prolonged sequence where the Bruins just could not get out of the zone.
The period ended with Boston down 3-1.
3rd Period
The Bruins tried their best, but the Sabres got the last laugh with an Empty Netter.
Bruins lose 4-1.
Game Notes
- Your TOI Leader was Charlie McAvoy, who played 24:22.
- I’ve said it before but it is really kind of bitterly funny that you can see the entire skill component of the Boston Bruins feeding each other for nearly identical point totals.
- I was going to save this for a larger analysis article but I think it’s time we rip the band-aid off and just come clean about the issue this team faces; the defense is absolute trash. Not necessarily as a corps, but as a unit; whole thing, regardless of player, of player archetype, of how long they’re out there, they all struggle mightily to leave their own zone, and it shows; especially when the other team forechecks with speed. The Sabres were able to pry open Boston’s backcheck like a tin can and feasted on Korpisalo with near-impunity, and they have nobody to blame but themselves and frankly, whoever is setting up this system for them. Either it doesn’t work, or they don’t have the horses to make this work.
- I feel like I need to once again remind everybody that is freaking out here that even if they had a bunch of buy-in at the beginning of this season: this was supposed to be how this year started. I’ll say it again; this is a team that was anticipated to be very bad and analytically is already pretty bad punching above it’s weight thanks to the game-warping talent it does have, and we should enjoy that when it works enough to win them a game! But the expectations need to be tempered. This team is deeply flawed and needs serious upgrading, and no amount of win streaks or positive play is going to deviate that. Eventually the bill is going to come due.
- It should come as no surprise that Joonas Korpisalo did not have a great time in net, partially because for large stretches of this game he was left effectively to himself. He finished the night with a .909 SV% on 33 shots.
Bruins are back at it on Monday as they kick off their Pacific Division tour with the Calgary Flames. That game is at 9pm.
We’ll see you there!
