The pride of Chelmsford, Mass., made his presence known from all angles Sunday evening on a sheet of ice he's all too familiar with. Here are my biggest talking points from another Bruins loss . . .
GOLD STAR: It was Jack Eichel all the way as he created, distributed and ultimately scored all over the Bruins. Eichel finished with a pair of goals and four points along with a plus-3 rating in 19 minutes of ice time, and pushed up six shots on net and nine shot attempts overall He scored on a nasty wrist shot that beat Tuukka Rask high to the glove side and he set up the game-winner when he dished a puck through the legs of Colby Cave with his back to the net that ultimately found Jeff Skinner to finish off the play. For good measure it was Eichel with the empty netter in the third period that ultimately decided a pretty important Atlantic Division game in favor of the Sabres.
BLACK EYE: It wasn’t a very good night for the Matt Grzelcyk/Charlie McAvoy pairing as McAvoy chased a play behind the Boston net that ultimately led to the game-winner for the Sabres. Meanwhile Grzelcyk was on the ice for two goals against vs. the Sabres, and was the defenseman that was beaten wide by Eichel before he fired the laser beam past Tuukka Rask for a third period goal. They certainly have good offensive instincts and have the experience of playing with each other at Boston University, but it might be that they’re better off being paired with different players for the time being. The B’s have been poked a little bit defensively in the last few games and part of that has been this particular pairing.
TURNING POINT: The turning point was ultimately the third period where the Bruins didn’t have any answers for Jack Eichel and the Sabres. Eichel scored a pair of goals in the final 20 minutes including a laser shot over Tuukka Rask’s glove hand that gave them a lead to start the final period, and also set up the game-winner when he drove the net and dished to Jeff Skinner for his second goal of the game as well. Eichel wasn’t finished yet, however, as he also scored the empty netter in the final minutes that clinched the victory for the Sabres, and showed that the B’s had absolutely no answer for stopping the Chelmsford native throughout the game.
HONORABLE MENTION: Torey Krug is beginning to turn things on with his offense and goal-scoring and scored again for the Bruins in the loss. It could have been a big goal as it tied things up in the third period and might have at least earned the Bruins a point. But instead it was a lost moment in the third period due to Jack Eichel’s heroics. But Krug still had an excellent game with the goal, the even plus/minus rating and nine shot attempts and the blocked shot. Krug also took a puck off the face in the third period that appeared to hit him in the nose, but he quickly returned to the game where he was rewarded with the third period score.
BY THE NUMBERS: 1 – the number of penalty shots for Ryan Donato, who had a chance to score on a breakaway when he was tripped up from behind. He wasn’t able to score on it despite throwing a couple of moves at Linus Ullmark.
QUOTE TO NOTE: “[Jack Eichel’s] line clearly had their way, no matter who we put out there and it ended up being the difference in the game. That was the gist behind it. At the end of the day their best players out played ours, from the goalies to the top line.” –Bruce Cassidy, telling it like it was after the B’s lost the game to Buffalo in the third period.
Boston Bruins
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