Bruins vs. Oilers RECAP: Boston can't hang on in 3-2 OT Loss

12/20/2024 07:00 AM

The Bruins had a great start; but eventually the Oilers broke the dam and Boston only walked away with one point.

Honestly?

I ain't even mad.

1st Period

Things started great for Boston, and I really do mean started great, as Brad Marchand sent the puck around the boards to Elias Lindholm, who threw a shot on net and it uh...kinda just went in. 1-0 Bruins.

To think this was going to be the worst goal of the game for almost half an hour of game time.

Then, as the period waned and Boston had comfortably landed a great many more shots on Stuart Skinner, Mark Kastelic took a puck that was squickly spanked out of the defensive zone on a tour of the Oilers' boards, cut into the middle, and sent a backhander home on a truly impressive shift!2-0 Bruins!

2nd Period

For most of this period, the Bruins were dealing with the onslaught of the Oilers desperately trying to claw their way into the game. For the most part, they kept their end of the bargain and put up a stout defense...and then, 11 minutes into the period, this happened.

There is no defense for this. That's just a miserable goal to give up. 2-1 Bruins.

But hey! If that's the only goal that goes in, we're all set, right? It's a weird aberration, the Bruins finish off a low-event game, we all go home happy, some weirdos keep pointing to a .920 SV% as a bad thing off that one weird event and we just ignore it ever happened, right?

Well...

3rd Period

The Bruins, to their credit, actually tried really hard to keep the Oilers from tying this game; keeping an even keel right up until the final three minutes of game time, where a miserably timed line change created the fatal mistake of tossing the puck to nobody in particular in the neutral zone when Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid were on the ice. The results of what happened next are predictable, but no less painful.

On to overtime we go.

Overtime

Look man, this is the last team you should be playing in Overtime. For any reason.

Mattias Ekholm all alone got the 2nd chance opportunity from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and the Oilers take this one 3-2 in Overtime.

Game Notes

• Your TOI leader was Charlie McAvoy, who logged 24:36 tonight.
• Look. This was a result that the Bruins could've and probably should've avoided. Even when the Oilers decided it was time to turn on the McDavid machine, The Bruins largely controlled this game from jump and did not let go of it until overtime finally snuffed the life out of it. They were active, they got their zone clears, they were physical, they got another goal from Elias Lindholm and from Mark Kastelic early and once again managed to get just about every major star on the board from assists, and very early too! The little details began to pile up however, and a dangerous Edmonton squad did what it always does when presented with even miniscule mistakes; it capitalized big time. Even with that, they still spent much of the game on the back foot. This is the kind of game you can build off of.
• That said, when you're playing the cream of the crop in raw scoring talent, you're gonna need your goalie to be at his best. For most of the game? Swayman was perfectly fine. Then the Hyman goal went in. There's not much you can do about Connor McDavid deciding to turn on the death machine, but a hideous rebound was the difference between RNH and Ekholm getting the game winning play and Brad Marchand trying for a zone exit, and while it's not a guarantee, it is something Swayman could control. Given how the game started, the sudden and sharp decay was notable and unacceptable. Swayman should be better than that, and tonight he wasn't. It's a goddamn shame, too; had he been able to stop that Hyman chance, maybe we're just talking about how he managed to hold the fort in spite of Edmonton's surge through the 2nd and 3rd.
• If nothing else it ensures the Rask-ification of Jeremy Swayman will be effectively complete by the end of the year. I appreciate that it's going to require a lot more actual discussion of play rather than his passport being different; that's a nice change of pace.
• Oliver Wahlstrom played tonight! He did pretty well with his limited time on ice; leading the team in most possession metrics, was a physical presence, and had a golden opportunity for his first as a Bruin early. If he keeps that up I think there's a quality Bruin in his play somewhere; They just gotta dig it out from years of Islander filth.
• Given how this road trip started, I think taking about half the points you could've gotten is...fine. It will mean you now absolutely need to pummel the Buffalos, Detroits, and Montreals of the world when they come to town in order to keep pace, but rebounding like they did is encouraging, even if it's a little frustrating.
• I can't wait for the third Bruins player to have double digit goals. That's gonna be real fun.

The Bruins finally come home from this nightmarishly long road trip, and they get a chance to play an example of true, unending agony; the Buffalo Sabres. That game drops the puck at 7pm EST.

We'll see you there!