Talking Points: Boston Bruins Suffer First Regulation Home Loss

BOSTON – Here are the Talking Points from the Boston Bruins 3-0 loss to thew Seattle Kraken at TD Garden on Thursday night for their first regulation loss on home ice this season.

GOLD STAR: Eeli Tolvanen was a difference-maker for the Kraken in this one. He finished with six shot attempts and five hits and was right in the middle of earning a good puck bounce in the second period when a double deflection had a puck land right to him in the middle of the slot. Tolvanen turned and fired one under the bar that beat Linus Ullmark and gave Seattle the cushion they would need headed into the game’s final 20 minutes.

Eeli Tolvanen now has 4 GOALS and 6 Points in 7 games since getting claimed from NSH… 👀 #SeaKraken
pic.twitter.com/7rcgsv8MzK

— Nathan “Grav" (@NathanGraviteh) January 13, 2023

BLACK EYE: Honestly, it goes out to the whole team. Players like Pavel Zacha missing the net with chances down deep in the zone, Craig Smith doing a disappearing act once again when given a chance to carve out a role for himself among the forward group and even Brad Marchand managing just a single shot on net through the first couple of periods after upping his level of play on the road. Thursday night amounts to a “scheduled loss” where the B’s probably expected a tough time in their first home game back from a road trip to California, and that’s exactly what they got from a Seattle team playing very good hockey.

TURNING POINT: The Boston Bruins were out of it right out of the chute getting outshot by a 14-8 margin in the first period before allowing a Brandon Tanev goal midway through the first period. They actually mounted a pretty decent effort to get back into the game in the second period, but a good bounce to Eeli Tolvanen for Seattle’s second goal really pushed things out of contention for the Black and Gold.

HONORABLE MENTION: David Pastrnak was active and had plenty of shot attempts and scoring chances, but he wasn’t at his absolute best on Thursday night. He missed high and wide on a one-timer attempt in the third period with the B’s buzzing around the net that absolutely typified the entire night for Boston. Pastrnak finished with four shots on net, but had as many missed shots (four) and six of his 10 shot attempts never got to the Seattle net one way or the other. So give Pastrnak credit for generating his chances and at least making the Boston Bruins a threat throughout the game, but even his best efforts weren’t even close to good enough in defeat.

BY THE NUMBERS: 19-1-3 – The Bruins home record at TD Garden this season after dropping their first regulation loss of the season on home ice against the Kraken.

QUOTE TO NOTE: “We weren’t a second late, we were two seconds late on everything.” –Boston Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery citing mental fatigue as a clear factor in tonight’s shutout loss to the Kraken.