The Boston Bruins salvaged a point in a 3-2 overtime loss against the St. Louis Blues on Saturday afternoon at the TD Garden. Trent Frederic scored twice for the Bruins.
Meanwhile, Blues captain Brayden Schenn got the overtime winner, with Radek Faksa and Nathan Walker adding the other tallies for St. Louis. The Blues completed a comeback to get their eighth win of the year. For Boston, Saturday’s game was their third overtime loss.
So, here’s a look at the three reasons why the Bruins dropped an overtime decision against the Blues.
3 reasons why Boston Bruins lost in overtime against St. Louis Blues
#3. The Bruins wasted a great outing by Korpisalo
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The Bruins have been getting solid goaltending this season from Joonas Korpisalo and Jeremy Swayman. Unfortunately, the Bruins were unable to translate Korpisalo’s solid outing into a win. He made 28 saves on 31 shots, including a sequence in the first period where he robbed Schenn.
Korpisalo initially stopped a shot from the faceoff circle, with the rebound coming to Brayden Schenn on the doorstep. Korpisalo stopped Schenn on the rebound and then sprawled to make another save on Schenn's backhand with an open net. The saves kept the game 1-0 for St. Louis then.
The Bruins eventually tied the game and took the lead but could not follow that effort up with a full 60 minutes to secure the win.
#2. The Bruins ran out of gas again
The Boston Bruins failed to secure the win in the third period. The B’s entered the third period with a 2-1 lead. However, the Blues returned to tie the game at the 9:18 mark of the third and then won overtime.
In overtime, the Blues took over, forcing the Bruins to fall back on their heels. The most evident situation was the game-winner. The Bruins got caught in transition play. The Blues had an odd-man rush, leaving Jordan Oesterle to handle the situation. Oesterle took away the passing lane, leaving Schenn to face Korpisalo. He didn’t miss and got the winner.
Had the other Bruins players gotten back in time, Oesterle could have been more aggressive in taking away the shot. However, Oesterle couldn’t, as he was gassed himself, and the Blues took advantage of the play.
#1. The offense went dry one more time
While it was nice to see Trent Frederic get two goals, it was concerning to note that the Bruins’ main offensive players, Brad Marchand, Elias Lindholm and David Pastrnak, were held off the scoresheet. The trio combined for four shots on goal, all belonging to Pastrnak.
Most importantly, the Bruins only managed 17 total shots, failing to get one in overtime. This alarming trend has become all too common for the Bruins in recent games. The Bruins will need to find a solution to their offensive woes to hang on to a playoff spot in the Atlantic Division.
The Bruins will have a day off to regroup and then hit the ice on Monday night against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
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