The Bruins didn’t just lose to the Senators on Tuesday night. They handed Ottawa a pile of gifts and spent the rest of the game chasing the mess.
Boston fell to 2-2-0 on the young season after a lopsided defeat that got ugly fast, with former Bruins goalie Linus Ullmark returning to Boston and needing only two periods before being replaced by Samuel Errson. Ottawa, a team that has been described as lacking goal scorers, still had more than enough because the Bruins kept turning the game over to them.
The damage started on Boston’s first power play. Instead of creating pressure, the Bruins gave Ottawa the kind of chances that swing a game in a hurry.
A David Pastrnak turnover at the offensive blueline sparked a 2-on-1, and Tim Stutzle finished it for a 1-0 lead. Then Hampus Lindholm coughed it up at the offensive blueline, and Stutzle scored again just three seconds after the power play ended.
That was only the beginning of the self-inflicted damage. At the end of the opening shift of the second period, James Hagens failed to get the puck deep and turned it over at the offensive blueline, which led to a Drake Batherson breakaway goal. Four minutes later, Boston still couldn’t clear the zone despite multiple chances, and Michael Amadio made it count.
The Bruins also made life far too easy on Ottawa by refusing to shoot. Boston kept looking for the perfect play instead of putting pucks on net, and it showed in the numbers and the scoreboard.
Twenty-seven minutes into the game, the Senators had four goals on 11 shots, while the Bruins had only five shots total. Boston didn’t record its first shot on net until midway through the second period.
Jeremy Swayman took the brunt of it. He was under siege all night, facing off-man rushes and constant breakdowns in front of him.
Through two periods, he had allowed four goals on 13 shots, and every one of them came off a turnover by a teammate. There’s plenty to sort through after a loss like this, but Swayman was not the problem.
The larger issue is where Marco Sturm turns next. The Bruins have now gone four straight periods without a goal, with their last one coming from Tanner Jeannot in the first period on Saturday night against the Minnesota Wild.
The offense isn’t just cold; it’s barely generating anything. And with the Utah Mammoth and Philadelphia Flyers still ahead on the homestand before Boston heads West, the pressure isn’t going away.
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That is why the trade market remains worth watching for Boston, especially with names already being floated as possible fits if the right situation opens up. One recent report from Adam Gretz of Bleacher Report put the Bruins among four teams that could make sense for Winnipeg center Mark Scheifele if he becomes available, a reminder that the Bruins may still need one more major swing to push their ceiling higher. [Read more 🡒]
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Poitras is slated to slide into the fourth-line center role, giving Boston another option down the middle as it continues to sort out its forward groups. The more intriguing wrinkle is what the Bruins are doing on defense, where Brunet is in position for his first NHL action. For a team still trying to find the right balance between health and depth, this kind of adjustment can say a lot about where the coaching staff thinks the next opportunity might be. [Read more 🡒]
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For Bruins fans, the twist is that two familiar bottom-six names have surfaced as possible fits in the discussion: Mark Kastelic and Michael Eyssimont. Montreals Kirby Dach is also in the mix, though he would present a tougher path because of his cap hit and injury history, and for now the Oilers are still weighing whether a move is worth making at all. [Read more 🡒]