Boston Bruins coach Marco Sturm said he hopes his team can learn something from Thursday’s 3-1 loss to the Edmonton Oilers.
After a defeat in which star center Connor McDavid’s shorthanded breakaway goal in the third period provided key insurance, the Bruins will look to get back on track when they begin a weekend back-to-back home set with a game against the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night.
“Little mistakes, little moments could cost you a goal, or even a game. In the playoffs, it could cost you a series,” Sturm said after facing the star duo of McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. “I like playing teams like that because they make you better. … For me, it’s a great teaching game. Really good. Cost us maybe two points, but overall, I do believe those kinds of games will help.”
The Bruins are 6-4-0 in their last 10 games but have lost two of three.
While Boston was pleased with its 5-on-5 play and finished with a 26-25 shots on goal advantage on Thursday, special teams made the difference as Edmonton scored in man-up and man-down situations.
The Bruins’ lone goal came from Pavel Zacha on the power play. Zacha had been on a three-game goal drought after scoring three in the previous three contests.
Boston has scored power-play goals in back-to-back games after going three of the four contests before that without one.
“It is getting better every game, but (Thursday) it didn’t gelp us to win,” Zacha said. “We’ve got to get better with that, too.”
Elias Lindholm has been hot of late for Boston. A primary assist on Zacha’s goal gives him 13 points in his last 10 games.
“I think if we keep a team like that under 30 shots, we’re going to have a good chance to win a lot of those games,” Boston goaltender Jeremy Swayman said.
As the Bruins start a back-to-back, the Canucks come into Boston to finish one of their own while riding a hot streak.
A three-goal first period — including two-thirds of a Kiefer Sherwood hat trick — lifted Vancouver to a 4-1 Friday win at the New York Islanders, its third straight victory and fourth win in six games. All three victories in the streak have come since trading captain Quinn Hughes to the Minnesota Wild a week ago.
“We’re sticking together, trusting the process and continuing to build towards our new identity,” Sherwood said. “It’s nice to finally get the results as a team, and we’re just focused on continuing this (five-game) road trip the right way.”
The Canucks entered Friday’s game in the Western Conference cellar before leapfrogging both the Seattle Kraken and Nashville Predators by one point.
After David Kampf’s opening goal for Vancouver on Friday, Sherwood scored the next two goals before the end of the opening period and finished his second hat trick this season with 1:21 left in the third. Filip Hronek had two assists.
Thatcher Demko (22 saves) was 5:05 away from a shutout.
Sherwood leads the Canucks with 16 goals this season — seven more than his closest teammate (Brock Boeser). Vancouver has outscored opponents 9-2 since the Hughes trade. That stretch has included part of leading scorer Elias Pettersson’s six-game absence due to an upper-body injury.
Zeev Buium, Liam Ohgren and Marco Rossi have jumped into the lineup since, with Buium posting a plus-2 rating against the Islanders. Ohgren scored his first goal as a Canuck in Tuesday’s 3-0 shutout at the New York Rangers.
“They’re good people. They’re getting used to a new system, things like that,” Vancouver coach Adam Foote said this week. “Marco’s a true pro. And they get the other two young guys. We had to keep them in the saddle here a little bit longer.”
-Field Level Media
