The Boston Bruins are mired in a three-game losing skid which is clearly affecting the locker room. With the team hoping to keep their season alive, the Bruins lost at home to the Buffalo Sabres in overtime, by a score of 3-2. After the game, David Pastrnak flipped his lid, delivering a harsh message to the NHL officials.
The Bruins are accustomed to making the Stanley Cup Playoffs year after year. However, as they find themselves on a downward spiral with the postseason slipping away, itâs beginning to take a toll on the teamâs mindset.
Bostonâs three-game slump has another twist, as every loss has come against divisional opponents, falling to Ottawa, Tampa Bay, and Buffalo. Exactly what Pastrnak and the rest of the team couldnât afford. Though they managed to secure a point during their OT loss to the Sabres, it felt too little for the Bruins. Especially considering the Sabres languish deadlast in the Atlantic Division, while the âSpoked Bâ aspire to make the postseason.
The Sabres were awarded a power play with 2:09 left in overtime after a tripping call on Marat Khusnutdinov. During the power play, Bruins goalie Joonas Korpisalo was poked at repeatedly while covering the puck, frustrating the Bruins, who expected a penalty on the Sabres.
David Pastrnak #88 of the Boston Bruins speaks to referee Francois St. Laurent #8 during the third period against the Florida Panthers in Game Three of the Second Round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs at TD Garden on May 10, 2024 in Boston, Massachusetts.
However, the refs didnât blow the whistle, and with 10.7 seconds left, Alex Tuch called game. It was the straw that broke the camelâs back for Pastrnak.
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âI felt like if anybody should get a power play in the overtime it should have been us,â Pastrnak said postgame, via Boston.com. âI think theyâve been having power plays the whole game. Yeah, thatâs just my opinion. Thatâs why I was mad. I thought Korpy got slashed, when he covered the puck twice on the power play, and then they could have evened it up, and they decided to look away.â
It takes two to tango
While the refereesâ calls could have gone either way during the final frame of the matchup, Pastrnak acknowledged his teamâs mistakes that handed the Sabres opportunities on a silver platter.
âSo frustrating that they got the power play opportunity in overtime, but at the same time, we made the mistakes on the puck to make it happen. But itâs very frustrating.â
David Pastrnak #88 of the Boston Bruins warms up prior to playing against the Toronto Maple Leafs in an NHL game at Scotiabank Arena on March 4, 2024 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Never-ending story
The Bruins had three man-advantage opportunities during the game, compared to the Sabresâ five. However, the key difference was that the visiting team capitalized on their power plays, converting in 40% of their chances. Boston, on the other hand, remained scoreless on the power play, even failing to convert a 5-on-3 opportunity in the opening period.
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Itâs been a recurring issue throughout the 2024-25 NHL season for Joe Saccoâs Bruins, who rank as the fourth-worst power play unit in the league with a subpar 14.9% conversion rate. The Sabres havenât fared much better, operating at 17.9% on the man advantage this season. However, based on their latest meeting, it would have been hard to tell.
