Bruins Takeaways: Poor third period cost them their victory against Ullmark and Senators

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The score had evened off three goals tied two goals each going into third period 3 but ultimately cost them dearly with three goals being scored with only overtime decider between regulation time ends and overtime result. The Bruins had the chance to capture consecutive victories at home and build upon an upstart 7-7-1 start to their campaign, creating real momentum going into Game 8. But instead of attacking and dominating their inferior opponent, Boston was powerless to generate any offensive output during any aspect of this period. They registered zero shots on net in total during it – yes – zero! The Senators outshot the Bruins 11-0 and managed to gain victory when captain Brady Tkachuk defeated Jeremy Swayman 21 seconds into overtime. Kevin Paul Dupont of The Boston Globe reported that the Bruins last went an entire third period without taking a shot on goal against Vancouver Canucks on Dec 21, 2006. To date this season, they’ve only scored five third-period goals themselves while conceding 16. Boston currently ranks last in the league with an unfavorable goal differential in the third period, as measured by goals against and shots differential, at minus-11 goals scored against them compared with opponents (minus 41 shot differential in this instance) while their shot differential ranks second-worst at -41 (second worst shot differential overall in league play). “I don’t have an answer,” Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery replied in his postgame press conference when asked why third periods have been an issue for his team. What should they be doing to address it? Talking, finding out why, reviewing what we are doing sports science wise – these could all be possibilities that need exploring further.” Montgomery was asked postgame if his players are taking in his messaging; no comment. Montgomery did not contest this assertion and when asked by reporters why his message to players hadn’t come through yet he answered by suggesting it’s up to the individuals involved to discover and provide answers as it weren’t good enough anyways: – Please share what’s going on within our team that may be creating problems; perhaps something just isn’t playing right; maybe there’s no point playing well enough yet? “Here are three other takeaways from Bruins-Senators.Brad Marchand Ignites After Slow StartBoston’s captain has shown signs of finding his rhythm over his last six games; Marchand scored four goals with two assists against Ottawa to give Boston an early edge 2-1 advantage in the second period.” Marchand’s goal also marked 290 career even-strength goals – second in team history. Marchand went eight games without scoring to open up his season; that drought seems to have come to an end as he has looked much more like himself during recent games. Marchand has shown himself to be aggressive both offensively (19 shots in five games), as well as in puck battles. With 12 points (five goals, seven assists) after 16 games he now stands just two behind David Pastrnak for team scoring lead. After an uncomfortable collision in the third period however he managed to finish out his shift successfully.David Pastrnak goal drought prolonged Since 2016-17 began, Pavel Pasternak has scored 329 goals to rank fourth overall in NHL scoring charts. Unfortunately for him though, lately finding the net has proved more difficult; indeed he’s gone seven consecutive games without scoring one goal! Last season, his longest goal drought spanned five games; it marked the only instance when he went more than four matches without scoring a goal. Pastrnak still managed six assists during his goalless stretch, so his contributions can still be felt elsewhere; however, given he receives an average annual salary of approximately $11.25 Million, Pastrnak should have scored more goals at an increasing pace during this season’s regular season play and on power plays. His goal drought can especially be felt there. Ervin has just one goal with the man advantage in 11 games since, one reason Boston’s power play has been struggling lately (more below). Special teams must improveThe Bruins entered Saturday’s match-up boasting the third-worst power play in the league. Boston has scored on only 12.5 percent of opportunities this season and was unable to gain much traction against Ottawa’s 24-ranked penalty kill, going 0-for-3 during their opening power play opportunity with 5:34 remaining in the opening period. Over two minutes, Boston generated four shots, two scoring chances, and one high-danger chance; but Senators goalie Linus Ullmark stood tall against them. One issue for Bruins on power play has been their inattention towards aggressive play. Boston’s power play, late in the second period, showed this weakness when they wasted several scoring chances by overpassing and managed no shots on net during this power play. To be effective on their man advantage, Boston must develop more of a shoot-first mentality with their power plays. Attain goal and capitalize on rebound opportunities: Boston ranks 23rd among NHL clubs with only 24 5-on-5 goals scored over 16 games. Boston needs its power play to provide some goals while they work through scoring issues at even strength, while at penalty kill they continue to struggle. At just 7.8 seconds left in the first period, Ottawa took the lead when Josh Norris fired a one-timer past Bruins defenseman Jeremy Swayman for an early lead. Nikita Zadorov pursued but eventually left Norris alone as Nikita Zadorov chased after it instead and left Norris all alone against Boston penalty killing. Penalty killing has long been among Boston’s key strengths. At one point or another over five seasons, Boston Bruins penalty kill has consistently ranked within the top 10 units nationally for penalty kill performance. This season has seen the penalty kill take an immense step backward, ranking 24th with 75.4 percent success rate and failing the Bruins on too many occasions to earn two points from special teams (power play or penalty kill). In several games they let us down badly this season.