Boston Bruins

Bruins Blow Early Lead, Fall To Oilers In Overtime

Published

4 weeks ago

December 20, 2024

The Canadian Press via AP/Timothy Matwey

Perhaps it was the nearly two weeks of travel through Western Canada that caught up to them, or maybe it was the difficult task of having to keep pace with the Edmonton Oilers. Either way, the Boston Bruins ran out of gas in the final game of their lengthy road trip.

The Bruins established an early two-goal lead but ultimately lost 3-2 in overtime on Thursday night at Rogers Place.

Mattias Ekholm scored the game-winner at 1:04 of OT, as the Oilers capitalized on a poorly timed line change by the Bruins.

It was the second time in just a few short moments that Boston burnt itself with untimely changes.`

The Bruins entered the third period leading by a thin margin of 2-1. They withstood the pressure of Edmonton’s high-powered attack until Connor McDavid tied the game with three minutes to play as he pushed his way to the front of the net and then pushed a puck past Jeremy Swayman.

“The start was terrific,” Bruins interim head coach Joe Sacco told reporters in Edmonton. “It got us ahead in the game, which is where you want to be. We would’ve liked to have defended the lead and held on to it, but that’s the way it goes sometimes…whenever you lose a point when you’re up two, nothing on the road, though it’s disappointing”

The Oilers had the clear advantage in terms of speed all night long, but it was the Bruins who scored quickly when Elias Lindholm opened the scoring 1:07 into the first period.

As Lindholm collected the puck in the corner, he turned around to find that there wasn’t a single member of the Oilers pressuring him.

With plenty of room to spare, he threw an innocent-looking attempt toward the net, looking for deflection from Justin Brazeau in front, but instead hit twine as his shot snuck between the post and Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner for his fifth goal of the season.

Mark Kastelic then made it a 2-0 advantage for Boston at 17:35 of the first.

After Brandon Carlo broke up a zone entry attempt by the Oilers at the blue line, Kastelic gathered the puck in stride along the wall. As he drove toward the Edmonton net, he showed he could use his hands for more than just fighting as he made a swift move to his backhand around a defender and lifted a shot past Skinner for his fourth goal of the year.

Kasty, that was nasty. pic.twitter.com/tF6hY0IP84

— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) December 20, 2024

“We were over top of them,” Kastelic told reporters in Edmonton. “We were kind of in their way a little bit, so they couldn’t forecheck as well. I think we were just tight in our D zone, and when we did all those things, that led to more offense.”

But after that, Boston took its foot off the accelerator.

Eventually, Edmonton got on the board when Zach Hyman’s one-timer from the right faceoff circle slipped through Swayman at 11:17 of the second period.

The Oilers controlled possession for the majority of the middle frame, but the Bruins managed to escape with the advantage after their penalty kill stood tall in a pair of shorthanded situations.

They couldn’t, however, escape the game with a win.

After 10 days of traveling and playing through a five-game gauntlet, the Bruins finished their road trip 2-2-1 and earned five points in the standings.

“We finished better than we started, for sure, but we can’t afford to be giving away points like that right now,” Bruins captain Brad Marchand told reporters in Edmonton. “We needed to be more prepared to start the road trip than we were, and it should have been better than what it was. But, at the end of the day, it’s good to get five [points] and come away five hundred because it could have been a lot worse, but it should’ve been better.”