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Bruins Postgame Takeaways: No Defense In Dallas

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4 weeks ago

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AP Photo/LM Otero

The Boston Bruins lost to the Dallas Stars by a final of 7-2 on Thursday night at American Airlines Center.

Charlie Coyle and David Pastrnak had the goals for the Bruins in front of Jeremy Swayman, who stopped 31 of 38 shots.

Evgenii Dadonov had two goals for the Stars, while Matt Duchene, Logan Stankoven, Oskar Bäck, Roope Hintz, and Mason Marchment provided the others in support of Jake Oettinger, who had 23 saves on 25 shots.

But that’s just the box score. Here are the key takeaways from the night that was in the Lone Star State.

No Defense In Dallas:

The ‘D’ in Dallas clearly doesn’t stand for defense, as there was none to be found from the Bruins on Thursday night.

The Stars had easy access to prime scoring positions all night long, and it started early when Matt Duchene opened the scoring for Dallas at 1:09 of the first period.

The wheels really began to fall off for the Bruins in the middle frame when Logan Stankoven and Oskar Bäck scored a pair of goals 1:41 apart. The three-goal period for the Stars was capped off when Evgenii Dadonov scored his second goal of the game with 10.6 seconds left until the intermission to make it 5-1 Dallas.

And before you get ready to blame the penalty kill, make note that all seven of the Stars’ goals tonight came at even strength.

Swayman Struggles:

Jeremy Swayman didn’t get much help in front of him tonight, but he didn’t help himself either.

Regardless of how badly the defense played, when an opponent scores seven goals, the first area you look to is net.

There were several pucks that got past Swayman that the Bruins simply needed him to have and a few that he should’ve. Duchene’s opening goal was certainly one of them, as was Evegenii Dadonov’s penalty shot snipe that put the Stars up 2-0 in the first period.

Perhaps the most egregious example, though, was the goal by Bäck. With only his off-hand on his stick, the 24-year-old fourth-liner managed to tuck a weak shot through the legs of a goalie who was expected to contend for the Vezina Trophy for the first goal of his career.

The seven goals against are a new career single-game worst for Swayman.

Brandon Carlo Takes Scary Hit:

Already without two of their top six defensemen, the Bruins nearly lost another when Brandon Carlo took a scary hit in the first period.

As Carlo turned his back toward the play to retrieve the puck behind the Bruins net, he was sent headfirst into the glass by a hit from behind by Stars captain Jamie Benn.

While Carlo was down on the ice, Bruins defenseman Nikita Zadorov immediately grabbed hold of Benn and made him pay for the hit.

Somehow, though, that was about as much discipline Benn faced. After Benn was originally called for a five-minute major, the penalty was downgraded to a minor for boarding after an official review.

Thankfully, Carlo, who has six documented concussions, returned to the bench for the Bruins to start the second period.

Bruins Lines:

Geekie – Zacha – Pastrnak

Marchand – E. Lindholm – Brazeau

Frederic – Coyle – Kastelic

Beecher – Brown – Koepke

Zadorov – McAvoy

Lohrei – Carlo

Oesterle – Wotherspoon

Swayman

Korpisalo

Up Next:

The Bruins return home Saturday afternoon to host the St. Louis Blues. Puck drop from TD Garden is slated for 1 p.m. EST.

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