Bruins Plus/Minus: Lack Of Skill On Full Display In Shootouts
BOSTON (CBS) - The Bruins have won just two games in their last 10 contests, with their latest loss coming Tuesday night in Nashville by the count of 3-2 to the Predators.
Give the Bruins some credit for forcing overtime and then the shootout against the Predators and Pekka Rinne, who is a leading candidate to take home the Vezina Trophy this season. Nashville has also allowed the fewest goals this season in the NHL.
But what the Bruins have at the moment is simply not enough, and the scoring woes continued: last night's defeat was the eighth time in their last 10 games they've scored two goals or fewer. The 15-13-3 B's would not be in the playoffs if they started today.
After the Predators loss, 98.5 The Sports Hub's Adam Jones recapped the game and awarded his best and worst from the contest in a segment he calls Plus/Minus.
Plus
Second Period Start
"The Bruins came out buzzing all over the ice and took the first eight shots of the period, including four on a power play that the Bruins couldn't convert on. Shortly after the power play wrapped up though, Milan Lucic gave the Bruins a brief 1-0 lead. Milan Lucic netted his sixth goal of the season by cleaning up his own rebound at the 4:04 mark of the second period."
Reilly Smith
"The Bruins found themselves down 2-1 early in the third period, but Smith was able to knot the game at two apiece. Smith got his eighth goal of the season, which is tops on the Bruins. The goal came off a rush on the right side on a turnover that was forced by Brad Marchand."
Tuukka Rask
"It's always frustrating to lose the game on a shootout, but I thought Tuukka Rask was excellent tonight -- 38 saves, including 13 in the third period and seven more in overtime. He stopped 38 of the 40 shots he faced; he was pretty good tonight."
Minus
Bruins Penalty Kill
"This one is going to sound weird because the Bruins killed off three out of the four penalties they took, but Nashville hadn't scored a power play goal at home all season, and the Bruins allowed them to, so we'll give them a minus. Unreal. The Predators came in to tonight 0-for-41 on the power play [at home]."
Rough Third Period Start
"The Bruins couldn't close out the second and didn't start the third period the way they wanted to. The Bruins were leading 1-0 late in the second and just like that they were down a goal. In the third the Bruins were outshot 13-6, and it was the top defensive pairing of Zdeno Chara and Dougie Hamilton that led to the goal by Mike Ribeiro at 1:31 in the third."
Shootout Woes
"Every time the Bruins are in a shootout this is where their lack of skill is really on full display for all to see, especially when their last shooter -- Patrice Bergeron -- has the chance to send it into another round and he just shoots it directly over the bar."
Listen below!
Hear every game of the 2014-15 Boston Bruins season on 98.5 The Sports Hub — the flagship station of the Boston Bruins. Pregame coverage with Dave Goucher and Bob Beers begins 30 minutes prior to every game!
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