Just how different a week made for the Boston Bruins.
It looked like their trek through Western Canada — plus a stop in Seattle — was going to be calamitous after they started their five-game road trip with back-to-back losses in which the Bruins were outscored, 13-2.
But then came a dominant showing against the Vancouver Canucks and a come-from-behind overtime victory over the Calgary Flames. The Bruins had a chance to finish the trip off strong Thursday night, but couldn’t hold on to a two-goal lead against the Edmonton Oilers and fell in overtime, 3-2, at Rogers Place.
The defeat to the Oilers, which dropped Boston to 17-13-4, added a little bit of a bad taste to end of the road trip. But after the way things started out west, the Bruins certainly will take points in their final three games and a 2-2-1 mark on the trip.
Boston’s win over the Oilers certainly had to be a confidence builder for how it bottled up Edmonton’s high-powered offense for a majority of the night. The Bruins limited the Oilers to just one shot for over 10 minutes in the first period. But Boston’s defense showed some cracks as the game went along with Zach Hyman cutting the deficit in half midway through the second period. And after thwarting chance after chance in the final period, the Bruins looked out of gas late and succumbed to the Oilers’ pressure with Connor McDavid netting the tying goal with 2:21 left in regulation. Mattias Ekholm then ended the game 1:04 into overtime.
Sure, there are things to clean up defensively, but that end of the ice has been the biggest difference for the Bruins since interim head coach Joe Sacco took over for Jim Montgomery. Boston entered Thursday ranked ninth in the NHL in goals allowed per game under Sacco. They ranked 24th in that same category this season with Montgomery behind the bench.
The Bruins also got off to another quick start, a fantastic recipe for success. Elias Lindholm found the back of the net just 67 seconds into the contest — his second goal in as many games — and Mark Kastelic gave the Bruins a 2-0 advantage before the first period concluded with a terrific individual effort. Kastelic made a move around an Edmonton defenseman before beating Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner with a sweet backhanded shot.
It was a measuring stick type of road trip for the Bruins. There was some good, some bad and some ugly. While questions remain, they showed that when they are on their game they measured up to some of the top teams in the Western Conference.
