The Boston Bruins 7-0 loss to the Washington Capitals on Wednesday night means that they have a lot to evaluate in a short amount of time. One loss does not write off an entire season ahead, but the B’s are at the point where they need to fix key areas in their play faster than anticipated.
Boston Bruins Look Awful In Loss
Typically the team watching the Stanley Cup banner rise to the ceiling gets caught up in the good memories of the past. With that, they forget to focus on the new season. But the Washington Capitals have proven once again that they are unlike any other team.
The Caps have put Boston back a step and the Bruins will now need to sharpen up before their next game.
Goaltending
The one thing that Tuukka Rask could not afford was a bad game. After coming off a post-season filled with doubt and anger within the fan base surrounding his play, Rask needed a strong start.
The eventual game-winning goal was scored just 24 seconds into the game by T.J. Oshie on a cross-ice pass. The goal wasn’t completely on Rask, but the goaltender is usually the first to blame on Boston.
For the second goal, the Capitals caught a lucky break off the face-off and buried the second goal on the power play. Again, not his fault, but Rask needs to make some big saves to keep his team in games.
It took until the fifth Capitals goal to actually pull Rask for Jaroslav Halak. Evgeny Kuznetsov drove down the side of the ice and flipped a shot on goal that snuck through Rask to put the make the game a blowout.
Halak came on and allowed a 5 on 3 goal and one on a breakaway. Aside from the allowed goals, he showed why he was so valued on the New York Islanders when he denied a tic-tac-toe chance from Nathan Walker.
Rask left the game with an unheard of 10.92 goals-against average while Halak posted a 3.69.
It may be worthwhile for Head Coach Bruce Cassidy to start Halak and see if he is able to get the Bruins some confidence back and wake Rask up.
Penalty Kill
Last season, the Bruins killed 83.67 percent of penalties they took, only forfeiting 40 goals during that time. Against Washington, Boston allowed four power-play goals, resulting in the units killing only 33.33 percent of penalties taken.
The numbers will get back to a normal level and the Bruins will recover from this one game. That said the Capitals set them back further than anyone expected.
Torey Krug Out
Still missing from the lineup is Torey Krug, who is reportedly out indefinitely with an ankle injury. Krug is one of the best Bruins defenders and plays a vital role in their special teams. Boston has shown that they are hurting without him and will continue to suffer until he rejoins the team.
Recovering Fast
The Bruins play next less than 24 hours after they were crushed by the Capitals. The team traveled to the Buffalo Sabres and will face off against a team ready to work around the talent of Jack Eichel and Rasmus Dahlin. The fans at KeyBank Center will have a lot to cheer about. With the promise of these two players and how they may make a bruised Bruins team 0-2.
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