B’s cough up four third period goals
The Bruins’ late season dive toward the highest draft pick possible got back on track on Thursday night at the Garden.
After scoring a season-high seven goals in a win over the New Jersey Devils, the B’s allowed three goals in 1:33 at the start of the third period and fell to the lowly Chicago Blackhawks, 5-2, as a trio of former Bruins scored for the rebuilding visitors.
It was the kind of implosion we’re now used to seeing from the 2024-25 Bruins, no matter who has been wearing the crest.
“The same thing that’s plagued us all year plagued us again tonight,” said Morgan Geekie, who remained hot with a goal and an assist. “It seems like we’re too stubborn to figure it out, especially at this time of the year. As late as it may be, we’ve got to learn to play a full 60 minutes. That’s something we struggled with all year and it’s something we struggled with again tonight. You see how well we play when we’re on and we play a consistent 60, then we have a game like tonight where we get away from it for 10 minutes and teams run away on us and we can’t figure out a way to get back in.”
After posting two straight wins, Jeremy Swayman took the loss. He saw just three shots in the third period, but they all went in, on three straight shifts.
“They won that couple of minutes and that decided the game,” said Swayman.
Whether or not it was the desired outcome for the players and coaches – and, no, it was not – the ‘L’ was helpful for the team’s future.
At the start of the night, the Blackhawks were in the two slot in the draft position and were not in danger of dropping any further down, while the B’s, slotted fourth to start the night, were in a points tie with Philadelphia (the Flyers were higher in them in the standings by virtue of a game in hand) and one point behind the Seattle Kraken, who were even in games with the B’s and playing Vegas in a later game. With the loss, the B’s remained in the fourth slot with two games remaining in this season.
The first period between the two also-rans was, as you might expect, a tad ragged, with not much by the way of scintillating offensive plays.
Parker Wotherspoon saved a goal early on when a puck got behind Swayman and Wotherspoon stopped it just before it got to goal line.
The B’s took the lead at 10:39 on a goal from the usual suspects on the top line. David Pastrnak bumped the Chicago defenseman off the puck as he was trying to come out from behind the Chicago net. The puck squirted out to Geekie at the bottom of the right circle and he fed an open Elias Lindholm in the slot. Lindholm’s shot deflected off a cutting Pastrnak and eluded goalie Arvid Soderblom for Pastrnak’s 42nd of the year.
The B’s could not hold that lead.
The Blackhawks evened it up at 7:55 of the second when an old hand victimized a couple of young Bruins. Fabian Lysell tried to make a short pass along the boards up to Mason Lohrei at the left point. Former Bruin Nick Foligno got his stick on the pass and, with Lohrei leaning toward the middle of the ice, the veteran blew past him along the boards for a clean break. Once he got to the inside of the right circle, Foligno snapped a wrist shot that beat Swayman low to the far blocker side.
In the third period, the bottom fell out as the Blackhawks scored three times in 1:33 early in the period.
The Blackhawks took their first lead at 3:14 when the second former Bruin goal scorer, Ryan Donato, scored, and it was a big one for the former Harvard star. Donato, dealt in 2019 for Charlie Coyle, tapped in a loose puck for his 30th goal of the year, a timely career high for the soon-to-be unrestricted free agent.
Just 1:09 later, short-time Bruin Tyler Bertuzzi snapped a wrister past Swayman for a 3–1 Chicago lead.
Finally, defenseman Kevin Korchinski beat Swayman from the high slot and the Blackhawks were on their way.
But the B’s did not throw in the towel. They pulled it back to a two-goal deficit when, you guessed it, Pastrnak set up Geekie for his 31st of the year.
But with the B’s on a 6-on-4 with Swayman pulled, Foligno scored his second of the night into an empty net with 26 seconds left.
The B’s are in Pittsburgh on Sunday and then they finish up the season at home on Tuesday against New Jersey. The end can’t come soon enough.
