Seattle Kraken defenseman Brian Dumoulin (8) and Boston Bruins forward Jake DeBrusk (74) compete for position during the second period of an NHL hockey game on Thursday, February 15, 2024, in Boston. (Photo by Steven Senne, AP)
BOSTON — The Bruins’ miserable homestand continued Thursday at TD Garden, as 38 shots resulted in one goal, and Boston lost 4-1 to the Kraken.
For the first five minutes of the game, the Bruins were determined to put their recent run of inconsistent performance behind them. They scored soon and gained momentum with an early power play following that. For a brief period, it appeared like they were ready to overcome whatever speed bump had hindered them from finding rhythm since the All-Star break.
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After Boston’s early pressure resulted in a slew of early chances, David Pastrnak scored his 34th goal at 4:54 of the game. Ten seconds later, the Bruins embarked on a power play and continued shooting. But three shots went wide, and Daccord stopped the other two.
Seattle did not score a shot on Jeremy Swayman until 7:59 into the game, but Jordan Eberle’s second shot on a power play with 10:49 left beat the All-Star goalkeeper to tie the game. The action brought the Kraken to life, and the Bruins spent the rest of the game dealing with frustration and Daccord.
Seattle led 2-1 late in the second. Brandon Carlo lost an edge at the blue line and spun down the ice, giving the Kraken a three-on-one advantage over Brad Marchand. Eeli Tolvanen defeated Swayman.
That was enough for Daccord, a Boston native who made 37 stops during his homecoming.
Four key takeaways from Thursday’s defeat:
Bruins fall to second place – For the first time in 119 days, the Bruins no longer lead the Atlantic Division. At 32-12-10, they are tied with Florida for 74 points, but victories are the tiebreaker, and the Panthers (35-15-4) have more.
Boston’s special teams are again struggling – both the power play and penalty kill have been ineffective. The power play is currently scoreless in four consecutive games, for a total of 15 empty man-advantages.
Opponents have scored power-play goals in four of the last five games, going 5-for-15 in that span.
Jeremy Swayman is winless since the All-Star game— Jeremy Swayman has gone winless since his first career All-Star game. He’s dropped three consecutive games, losing to Calgary (4-1), Washington (3-0), and Seattle (3-1), all of whom are out of the postseason picture.
In the three losses, he has made 75 saves on 84 shots for a save percentage of.892.
Pastrnak snaps season-long goal-less run — David Pastrnak scored his 34th goal of the season in the first period, breaking a four-game drought. Pastrnak has not gone more than two games without scoring before the All-Star break.
