The Boston Bruins could not keep their win streak alive on Tuesday, but they finished their four-game road trip with seven of a possible eight points.
The Bruins (7-2-1) ended their road trip with a 3-2 overtime loss to the Dallas Stars (5-3-1) on Tuesday night at American Airlines Center. Matt Poitras and James Hagens scored for the Bruins, but Mikko Rantanen’s three goals stopped the Bruins short of their perfect road trip, including the overtime winner at the 3:52 mark of the fourth period.
Also Read:Bruins’ Win Streak Ends With Overtime Loss to StarsJeremy Swayman made 22 of 25 saves and finished with 0.87 goals saved above expected, according to Natural Stat Trick.
“That’s a hard game to play, and I am really proud of the boys,” Swayman said to reporters in Dallas postgame. “They maintained a good, solid 60 minutes, so give a ton of credit to them for locking it down, playing our system right, and giving full effort at the end of this road trip.”
Unlike their last two games, the Bruins scored first and had a lead after 20 minutes. But once again, the young players stepped up. Matt Poitras’ good friend Frederic Brunet set up his fourth goal of the season, and James Hagens found the back of the net for his third NHL goal.
However, toward the end of the game, the Bruins’ goal scorers found themselves stapled to the bench. Poitras did not see the ice for the last 10:41 of the game, while Hagens sat for the last 9:02. Although no one directly asked Sturm about keeping them on the bench, he acknowledged the growing pains that come with a youth movement.
“Again, they still need to learn. You could see it, when you play a team like Dallas today, a lot of veterans, and it’s a little bit more [of a] playoff atmosphere. You could tell they made a little bit more mistakes than some other games, but it’s healthy, though,” Sturm said about integrating the younger players into a veteran lineup. “It’s just going to help them moving forward.”
The Bruins did not record a shot in the last 16:35 of the game, finishing the third period with four shots and overtime with zero. They also held the Stars to just two shots in the third period, but one of them found the back of the net.
The power play also went 0-for-4 on Tuesday night. Entering the game, the Stars’ penalty kill ranked inside the top five, but the Bruins only got three shots on Jake Oettinger, and none came during their first two attempts.
“That was probably a little bit of the difference tonight,” Sturm said of the power play. “We couldn’t really find our rhythm, and they were very aggressive. We had opportunities to shoot, but we just didn’t.”
The penalty kill went 2-for-3, but the Stars’ lone power play goal was the overtime winner. Pavel Zacha took a slashing call 2:28 into overtime, and the call did not sit well with the Bruins’ head coach.
“I have to see it again, but yes,” Sturm said when asked if he was surprised by the call. “My first thought was the same thing; it’s overtime, and he still got a shot off. So I just got to see it again.”
Nikita Zadorov, who played in his first game since being scratched for disciplinary reasons, chose his words a little more carefully. He said, “I think I’m going to stay away from talking about penalties,” to reporters postgame.
Mikko Rantanen’s overtime winner snapped the Bruins’ five-game win streak, but it did little to diminish what they accomplished over their four-game trip out west.
“I don’t think we’ve ever swept the California road trip since I’ve been here. It’s a hard feat, and it’s hard to win in this league,” Swayman said. “This was a trip that, again, we were all laughing, like it’s been the best trip ever because of the camaraderie and the way we have competed and been able to stick together every single day.”
The Bruins won all three games in California, including back-to-back games with four unanswered goals against the Ducks and Kings. They also got contributions throughout the lineup, with younger players taking on a bigger role and leaving their mark on the scoresheet throughout the trip.
Even in Tuesday’s loss, the Bruins managed to limit a high-powered Dallas offense for much of the night. Zadorov praised the team’s defensive effort, even though they could not close out the road trip with a fourth win.
“Obviously, we would like to get two points in that game. They are a really dangerous offensive team. You can see the skill, especially in their top-six and top-two defensemen,” Zadorov said. “I thought we did a pretty good job overall defensively to keep them away from the scoresheet, but on the power play in overtime, Mikko [Rantanen] made an unbelievable play there, so you just have to tip the hat there. But overall, a great trip for our team. We got seven out of eight points. So, it’s something to build off of, and now we have two big ones at home, so we are shifting focus to that.”
The Bruins fly home on Wednesday ahead of a quick two-game homestand against the Nashville Predators and San Jose Sharks. Through 10 games, they still occupy the top spot in the Atlantic Division and now sit one point ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
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