Bruins defense rights the ship – except for one critical area

Bruins

“It could have been a lot worse, but it should have been better.”

By Conor Ryan

December 20, 2024 | 8:21 a.m.

4 minutes to read

The Bruins’ overtime loss to the Oilers on Thursday represents the latest “glass half full or half empty” dilemma for a team that has largely clung to small wins or glimmers of hope amid a uneven start.

The “half empty” argument? After bouncing back from a dreadful start to a five-game stretch in the West with back-to-back wins over Vancouver and Calgary, Boston blew a two-goal lead against Edmonton en route to a disheartening loss.

To twist the knife even further, two two-point results for the Lightning and Senators on Thursday tightened Boston’s playoff positioning.

Tampa Bay (38 points, four games in hand) moved ahead of Boston (38 points) for third place in the Atlantic Division, while the Senators (36 points, two games in hand) sit behind the Bruins for second and last. wild card. position in the Eastern Conference.

The “half full” speech? The Bruns now return home to Boston with five points on this trip – a seemingly inconceivable result after those games in Winnipeg and Seattle – and have largely kept Connor McDavid and arguably the most talented team in the Western Conference in check for most of the evening.

And in matchups against human cheats like McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, sometimes you just have to shrug your shoulders.

What makes Thursday’s result both so promising and discouraging is the continued embrace of the identity that Joe Sacco is shaping — even if that progress is still blocked by some lingering warts within the roster.

As discouraging as it was to see soft puck plays and ill-advised line changes spur Edmonton’s comeback, the Bruins’ defensive structure for most of Thursday night didn’t deliver much. thing to the Oilers.

This may not make for the smoothest or most exciting product on the ice. But this is the formula that Sacco and the Bruins must adhere to if they want to consistently put up competitive performances (as was the case on Thursday).

In total, the Bruins limited Edmonton to nine high-danger scoring chances on Thursday – which is the fifth-lowest total generated by a high-powered Oilers offense this season (per Natural Stat Trick).

Edmonton finished with an expected goals rate of 2.33 – their fourth lowest output – while their 26 total shots on goal were a tie for the second-lowest volume of shots generated this year.

For most of the night, the Bruins limited mistakes with the puck on their sticks, blocked shots (14 in total) and stifled oddballs that usually give McDavid the runway he needs to carve up opposing goalies.

“Yeah, it was solid, especially in the first half,” Sacco said of Boston’s defensive structure. “Great start for our team. I went out to check. We are committed to checking, developing good habits and detailing well. Second period, it swung a little in their favor.

“I actually thought the third (period) was pretty even until the end of the game there, they started attacking hard. It’s just a shame we couldn’t come away with that extra point tonight.

Despite all the lopsided losses the Bruins have suffered this season, Boston’s defense is starting to tighten up since Sacco took the reins. The Bruins currently rank second in the NHL in high-danger 5-on-5 scoring chances allowed per 60 minutes (8.79).

Since Sacco took over as interim head coach on Nov. 19, there have been only two instances in 14 games where the Bruins have allowed more than 10 scoring chances at high-danger 5-on-5.

The one area of ​​this defensive turnaround that still hampered Boston was the play of Jeremy Swayman, who is now 11-10-3 with an .887 save percentage in 24 games this season.

Swayman – who entered the NHL last Thursday among qualified goaltenders (min. five games played) with a -11.5 goals saved rate above expected rate (according to MoneyPuck) – had another night to forget against Edmonton.

Edmonton’s comeback was sparked in the second period by a quick shot from Zach Hyman that caught Swayman as it slipped just under his right skate and into the back of the net.

There were a lot of things that went wrong in McDavid’s equalizer with 2:21 left in regulation, from an ugly shift by David Pastrnak to a slight play on the puck from Charlie Coyle or Nikita Zadorov set on fire by McDavid.

Still, Swayman lamented the sequence that ended with McDavid sliding the puck through all five holes to force overtime.

“I think I was too attached to the pass option and got a little too open,” Swayman said. “He’s a hell of a player. So he played and saw an opening. It was unfortunate.

There is still plenty of time for Swayman to return to form this season. But his up-and-down play has taken its toll on a team that is beginning to right the ship in its own zone — even if one critical area is still taking on water.

The ball is in the court of Bruins fans as to what the prevailing feeling should be after an overtime loss to a team like the Oilers.

But as the Bruins continue to drop points in an increasingly tight Eastern Conference field, some of these “glass half full” thoughts are bound to boil over if the Bruins’ defensive efforts haven’t. much to show in the rankings.

“We finished better than we started, that’s for sure, but we can’t afford to give away points like that right now,” Brad Marchand said. “We need to be better prepared than we were to start the road trip. It should have been better than what it was. But at the end of the day, it’s nice to have five. You know, go. 500. It could have been much worse, but it should have been better.

Conor Ryan is a writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.

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