Recap: Bruins drop to Blues, 3-2, in OT

11/16/2024 07:03 PM

The Bruins still can't find any consistency.

Another poor effort and inconsistent 60+ minutes handed the Boston Bruins a 3-2 overtime loss to the St. Louis Blues this afternoon at the TD Garden.

There were a few bright spots to this game. Trent Frederic's had a two-goal night with great positioning which earned him his 100th career point. And Joonas Korpisalo had a solid game, making 28 saves and giving the Bruins a chance along the way.

But those were about it.

The Bruins lacked any other offense, limited to just 13 shots through 49 minutes of play.

Despite holding onto a 2-1 lead through the whole second and most of the third, the Bruins, yet again, reverted back to old habits and bad execution — and they failed in their transitions.

"It wasn't there today," Jim Montgomery said about his team's defense game. "Offensively, we haven't been there all year."

The B's offense was nonexistent in a second-period where they were outplayed and kept in their defensive zone for most of the play.

The Blues tied things up half way through the third which felt long overdue with the amount of sustained offensive-zone time they had over the Bruins.

In overtime, like the Bruins' story of the game, they couldn't get a shot off and the Blues eased into the zone for Brayden Schenn to score the game-winner for St. Louis.

"You can't plan for lack of juice," Montgomery said postgame. "The excitement should come within each individual to be able to go out there and play in front of our great fans."

Here are the game's highlights:

First period:

Out front, Radek Faksa redirected a shot from the point from Scott Perunovich at 6:25 of the first period. 1-0 Blues.

Starting at the blue line, Charlie McAvoy sent a pass down to Georgii Merkulov who then put a quick shot through his legs on Jordan Binnington. The loose puck from the rebound found Trent Frederic at the top of the paint where he slid in a goal at 9:34 of the first period. 1-1 game.

Mason Lohrei threw a long shot on net which hit off Frederic out front and past Binnington at 12:12 of the first period. 2-1 Bruins.

Third period:

Faksa threw a backhander toward the center lane which found Nathan Walker crashing the slot. Walker, in the high slot, lifted a wrist shot past Korpisalo's blocker shoulder at 9:18 of the third period. 2-2 game.

Overtime:

Skating into the offensive zone, Brayden Schenn headed to the left-wing circle where he sent a wrist shot past Korpisalo's glove. Final score: 3-2 Blues.

Game notes

• A "lack of juice," lack of offensive, lack of defense, lack of details, lack of awareness, lack of consistency, there's no doubt the Bruins have been lacking in just about all areas of their game and it was magnified again today.
• Montgomery used a timeout at 6:17 of the second period as the Bruins were getting dominated and couldn't get out of the d zone.
• Montgomery said postgame he felt his team is thinking too much offensively and not transitioning back to defensive pressure, but he still didn't have any answers to why the energy is not there.
• Korpisalo was arguable the best Bruin on the ice today. He kept his team in the game in the first period and through the second period where they spent most of the time in the defensive zone. He flat out robbed Schenn on a series of chances after Frederic had made it 2-1. Montgomery liked his second and third efforts and felt he made "high level, grade A stops."
• Mark Kastelic left the game with a lower-body injury. Montgomery said he is "day-to-day."
• Merkulov registered his first NHL point on Frederic's first goal.
• Charlie Coyle postgame soundbite:"We're going to get out of this. These little funks that happen every year. The good teams find ways to put a stop to it quicker than other teams. But it takes everyone. We have to really buy in on just playing a simple style of hockey. I know that's a cliche word, but it works. It works for us. It works for the way we play.
• The Bruins return to action on Monday, Nov. 18 as the Columbus Blue Jackets come to town for a 7 p.m. start.