The Bruins walked out of St. Louis with a 4-1 loss Thursday night, but James Hagens gave them something to remember anyway. The 19-year-old rookie turned a Casey Mittelstadt feed into one of the flashiest goals Boston has produced this season, slipping the puck through his legs and past Blues goaltender Joel Hofer.
The finish was eye-catching on its own. It carried even more weight once the numbers settled in.
Hagens’ goal was his fifth of the season and the fifth of his NHL career, and NHL.com noted that it put him alongside Phil Kessel as the fastest Bruins teenager over the past 20 years to reach five career goals. Both did it in 16 games.
That is the kind of company that grabs attention quickly. Kessel went on to become one of the league’s most recognizable scorers, piling up more than 400 career goals and winning three Stanley Cup championships. Hagens isn’t anywhere near that finish line yet, but the comparison says plenty about how fast he’s made himself matter in Boston.
The sequence itself was sharp and clean. Mittelstadt picked off Joel Hofer’s clearing attempt along the boards and sent the puck toward the net.
Hagens was set in the right spot, then redirected it between his legs for a 1-0 Bruins lead. It was a slick individual play, the sort that can swing a night.
Instead, it became the high point of an otherwise flat finish.
St. Louis answered with four straight goals.
Jimmy Snuggerud tied it on the power play late in the first period, then Philip Broberg and Robert Thomas struck in the second. Jake Neighbours added another power-play goal in the third to finish off the 4-1 result.
Boston outshot St. Louis 32-18, but Hofer stood in the way of a different ending with 31 saves, including 14 in the third period. The Bruins also gave up two power-play goals on three chances.
The loss was Boston’s second in a row after an eight-game point streak. Afterward, coach Marco Sturm pointed to the same sloppiness that had been creeping in even during some of the wins.
That’s the frustrating part for the Bruins. Hagens gave them the lead and delivered a play worth replaying, but it didn’t change the final outcome.
He now has five goals and 10 points this season, and Boston has an increasingly interesting young offensive piece on its hands. The bigger question is how that production fits into a team performance that’s been too loose lately.
The Bruins have enough established talent that they shouldn’t need a teenager to produce the night’s loudest moment. Still, Hagens keeps making it harder to ignore what he could become.
Boston returns home Saturday to face the Chicago Blackhawks after consecutive road losses. Thursday was another reminder of Hagens’ upside - and another reminder that one dazzling rookie goal won’t erase the mistakes that have started to cost the Bruins.
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