3 Reasons Why the Boston Bruins Fell to the Vancouver Canucks

25/02/2024

forbortsway-van-feb-24

Just a couple weeks after defeating the Vancouver Canucks 4-0 at TD Garden, the Boston Bruins looked poised to sweep the season series against the top team in the Western Conference as they took a 2-0 lead into the third period.

But the inability to hold a lead, which has plagued the Bruins throughout the season, resurfaced on Saturday and the Canucks came back to take the 3-2 overtime win.

There’s a lot that can be unpacked when it comes to the dynamics at play with this team, but the loss on Saturday can be boiled down to these three issues.

1. Sitting Back in the Third Period

The Bruins built their two-goal lead with goals from the third and fourth line, respectively. On one hand, that’s a good sign of depth production. On the other hand, it means the top lines didn’t factor much into the game. However, taking a two-goal lead into the final period gave the Bruins’ best players an opportunity to put the game away.

They didn’t. Vancouver outshot Boston 21-17 through two periods, but had a whopping 16-5 advantage in the final period. The Canucks dominated offensive zone possession, posting a 5-on-5 Corsi For Percentage of 79.55, and while Jeremy Swayman put forth a valiant effort in response to his lackluster performance in Wednesday’s 6-5 overtime win against the Edmonton Oilers, the league-leading Canucks created plenty of opportunities to get back in the game, and the Bruins let them.

You’ll be hard-pressed to have luck taking your foot off the gas against any team in the NHL, much less a team like the Canucks, but the Bruins did and that’s what contributed to their downfall.

2. Losing the Special Teams Battle

This will tip the scales in practically any game, but it was evident on Saturday. Boston went 0-for-4 on the man advantage, which moves their success rate down to 8.8 percent (3-for-34) since returning from the All-Star break. Vancouver, meanwhile, went 1-for-2 with its successful attempt winning the game in overtime.

Speaking of overtime, it was a too many men penalty that set Vancouver up with the man-up opportunity. There’s no such thing as a good penalty in overtime, but for it to come on a substitution error – in this case, Jake DeBrusk leaving the bench and engaging in the play too early – is inexcusable.

As for the Bruins’ power play itself, the personnel changes such as Morgan Geekie and DeBrusk moving into the top unit, plus 26-year-old rookie Justin Brazeau getting a look on the second unit didn’t pay off. It’s tough to judge the new arrangement after just one game, but the overall trend of the power play’s success rate – or lack thereof – is another concern, and it came back to bite them in Saturday’s loss.

3. Defensive Breakdowns

This goes hand-in-hand with the previous two points, but it deserves to be singled out. Canucks forward Brock Boeser was left with far too much space to work with on both of his goals. The first came at 12:49 of the third period off a face-off, where he drifted into the inside edge of the left circle before beating Swayman high. Derek Forbort failed to get over in time to make a play on it.

Then in overtime, it was Boeser again who positioned himself on the doorstep much too easily without Forbort or Brandon Carlo preventing the redirect goal. That situation was a 4-on-3 power play for Vancouver, in all fairness, but it still highlighted an issue that the team may end up needing to address at this year’s trade deadline. Given the results of the past few weeks, there appears to be a good amount to reflect on for general manager Don Sweeney as he decides what moves to make.

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