Just when it felt like the Bruins were pulling their game together, they epically stubbed their toe again on Monday night in Philadelphia.
The Bruins have shown a pattern of relaxing at times when they have been staked to a big lead, and they did that while wasting a three-goal lead in the second period on the way to a 6-5 shootout loss to the Flyers at Wells Fargo Center.
All three goals allowed to the Flyers in the second and third periods were about the Bruins running around in their own net while breaking down in coverage, with Travis Sanheim's game-tying third period goal serving as the most egregious.
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There were three Flyers players all around the front of the net while the back-checking Bruins forwards were nowhere to be found, and both Matt Grzelcyk and Brandon Carlo were below the goal line chasing the puck during a 4-on-4 situation on the ice.
It was that kind of D-zone breakdown at crunch time that had Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy steaming after the game was over, when the Bruins had once again lost again in a shootout, their record falling to 0-7 in shootouts this season.
Certainly Jaroslav Halak didn’t have his sharpest night either while allowing five goals on 39 shots, but for the B’s head coach it was about the defensive part of the game falling apart once momentum started to shift away.
This was far beyond simple effort and urgency, and was about Bruins players getting away from the game plan, defensive coverage and overall strategy to protect the slot area around the net.
Boston Bruins
All of that seemed to go out the window midway through the second period.
“We had no will to keep the puck out of our net on the last three goals. That’s been a staple of our team for years,” said Cassidy to NESN following the loss in Philadelphia. “Let’s hope it’s just a one-off because it was unprofessional the way we performed in front of the net for the last three goals. We have to be better.”
Clearly those are pointed comments directed toward a team that simply stopped playing once they’d built a three-goal lead, and it’s too bad because the secondary offense from the second and third lines during the loss to the Flyers was noteworthy.
But it’s also worth keeping in perspective as the Bruins still hold an eight-point lead over the Tampa Bay Lightning in the division, and a 12-point lead over the Toronto Maple Leafs as well while seemingly past the worst of their struggles.