Bruins protection struggles mightily towards Panthers' velocity in 6-4 loss

Bruins defense struggles mightily against Panthers’ speed in 6-4 loss initially appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The Florida Panthers scored the primary objective in Tuesday evening’s season opener towards the Boston Bruins and by no means relented. They saved attacking, and by the midway level of the second interval, the defending Stanley Cup champs had a commanding 5-1 lead over their division rivals.

There have been many areas that have been missing for the Bruins in this 6-4 loss at Amerant Bank Arena, however probably the most evident was the crew’s protection — each individually and as a unit.

Joonas Korpisalo made his Bruins debut in internet, and the veteran goalie had a tough outing. He gave up six targets on 35 pictures. The one objective he actually wanted to stop was a shorthanded tally by Sam Reinhart within the first interval.

The Bruins had trimmed the deficit to 2-1 and have been on an influence play that produced a number of beauty at Florida’s internet. However the Panthers squashed all momentum the B’s had constructed when Reinhart beat Charlie McAvoy to the online and scored on Korpisalo.

The B’s wanted a save there, however Korpisalo is just not atop the blame listing for this recreation. He was frolicked to dry all evening. The truth is, the rating truly may have been rather a lot worse if not for the a number of breakaway saves he made.

“Korpisalo was not an issue tonight, it was the individuals in entrance of him,” Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery told reporters postgame. “You may’t quit 4 backdoor tap-ins and count on your goalie to make save after save. He made lots of saves on breakaways. He was good tonight. The gamers in entrance of him, the remainder of the crew and the teaching employees, we weren’t adequate.”

The result was nowhere close to as shut as a two-goal Panthers win would possibly counsel.

“We weren’t adequate in so many areas tonight. They have been,” Jim Montgomery stated. “Their execution was actually good. Our execution was actually poor. I can’t pinpoint why we regarded gradual, however we regarded gradual your entire recreation, not simply the primary 10 minutes, for my part.”

Boston’s protection was actually unhealthy on this recreation. The Panthers did not simply rating six targets; additionally they had a 53-33 lead in shot makes an attempt, a 27-15 edge in pictures on internet, a 30-18 benefit in scoring possibilities and a 16-7 margin in high-danger possibilities throughout 5-on-5 motion, per Natural Stat Trick.

In all conditions, the Panthers generated 42 scoring possibilities (22 high-danger possibilities).

You may’t quit that many Grade A appears to be like on the internet towards a crew with plenty of offensive firepower and count on to win the sport. The graphic beneath reveals how busy the Panthers have been in entrance of the Bruins’ internet final evening. Take a look at all the purple round Boston’s crease. The B’s did not generate the identical chaos and strain in entrance of Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky.

The Bruins built a roster with size and toughness, particularly on the blue line. However for many of final evening’s recreation, the Panthers’ velocity was an issue. Florida scored 5 of its six targets off the push.

The Brandon Carlo-Mason Lohrei pairing was notably unhealthy. Shot makes an attempt have been 16-6 for the Panthers throughout Carlo’s 13:15 of 5-on-5 ice time. Florida had a 18-8 shot try benefit in Lohrei’s 13:05 of 5-on-5 ice time.

One recreation is not an enormous deal. You would possibly bear in mind the Bruins’ final season-opening loss was additionally a foul one. The Washington Capitals beat them 7-0 after elevating their Stanley Cup banner in October of 2018. The B’s have been within the Stanley Cup Remaining 9 months later.

However Tuesday’s defeat was a reminder that the Panthers are nonetheless a greater crew than the Bruins. The Panthers are capable of be bodily with out taking dumb penalties. They’re relentless on the forecheck and use their velocity in all three zones. Their goaltending is often fairly good, and it was once more Tuesday.

The Bruins can dangle with this crew, however there may be lots extra work to do and enchancment to be made. The nice factor for the B’s is they’ll get one other shot at Florida quickly. They host the Panthers at TD Backyard subsequent Monday at 1 p.m. ET.