Highlights from the Bruins' 5-0 loss to the Panthers

Share

FINAL SCORE: Panthers 5, Bruins 0

FROM JOE HAGGERTY:

1.)      The Bruins are giving their worst all-around effort since Patrice Bergeron and Zdeno Chara went down with injuries. You had to kind of wonder when this was going to happen given the way they were grinding out one-goal games with a roster that’s practically half call-ups from the Providence Bruins. They have little-sustained offense, their best players are struggling and then even the goaltending of Jaroslav Halak started breaking down midway through the second period. At this point, you write it off as a one-time thing, but you wonder if the cracks are starting to show with a group being held together with duct tape and gum.

2.)        I’m not sure if something is wrong physically with Matt Grzelcyk, but he’s having a really tough time on the ice tonight. Three giveaways through two periods and not showing his usual burst up the ice with the puck while having just a single shot on net in 15:03 of ice time. It might be time that he's still suffering some after-effects after taking that dirty hip-check in the loss to the Red Wings last weekend in the closing minutes of the third period. 

3.)        Boy, it is a friends and family crowd for the Bruins/Panthers here on a Tuesday night in December. It makes you wonder how long they can continue to sustain things here in Florida if they don’t start generating more interest and revenue. There are plenty of Quebec hockey fans that would love to have an NHL team back in Quebec City and would make sure there weren't these kinds of empty seats no matter what team was visiting that night. On the day when the NHL awarded a new expansion franchise to Seattle, it's still obvious there are existing franchises that need some help just like the Florida Panthers.

4.)        Both Ryan Donato and Torey Krug completely waved at Mike Matheson defensively on a one-man rush up the ice that ended with Matheson snapping a shot under the armpit of Jaro Halak after an end-to-end rush. If that doesn’t show how soft the Bruins are playing at points right now, I’m not sure what would. Both players have obvious offensive skill, but that was the unfortunate other side of the equation. Krug was on ice for three of the five goals allowed by the Black and Gold and had a very rough night when it came to surviving things in the defensive zone.  

5.)        A total of 33 shots on net for the Bruins and a whopping 19 giveaways to the Panthers through two periods. That is not a good ratio at all. The Bruins just flat out weren’t showing enough respect to puck management, or making good, strong, hard plays that were going to expose any defensive issues with the Panthers. 

HIGHLIGHTS

FLORIDA GETS ON THE BOARD FIRST...

...AND TALLIES ANOTHER...

...AND ANOTHER...

...AND ANOTHER...

QUOTE OF NOTE

BRUINS RECORD: 14-9-4

BOX SCORE.

UP NEXT

THURSDAY: at Tampa Bay Lightning, 7:30 p.m. (NESN)

Click here to download the new MyTeams App by NBC Sports! Receive comprehensive coverage of your teams and stream the Celtics easily on your device.

NBC SPORTS BOSTON SCHEDULE

Contact Us