BOSTON — The Boston Bruins couldn’t get an overtime win for the second straight night and fell to the Ottawa Senators, 3-2, on Saturday night.
Just 21 seconds into the extra time Brady Tkachuk scored the game-winner. Linus Ullmark, who made his return to TD Garden for the first time since being traded in June, made a big stop in overtime to help lift Ottawa to victory.
The Senators took a 1-0 lead with 7.8 seconds left in the first period, but the Bruins answered back in the second with two goals in 15 seconds from Pavel Zacha and Brad Marchand to give Boston its first lead of the night.
Ottawa tied it in the second period when Michael Amadio beat Swayman with a shot from the faceoff circle. Nikita Zadorov skated through Swayman’s line of vision and Charlie McAvoy also skated through the shooting lane — further highlighting the defensive struggles the Bruins have faced all year.
The third period was all Senators. The Bruins didn’t have one shot on net during that time. Cole Koepke absorbed a big hit into the boards from Nick Jensen and was in obvious pain. He remained on the ice briefly before skating off under his own power and down the tunnel. He returned to the bench shortly after.
After not landing a shot on net in the third, the Bruins and the Senators went to overtime.
Here are five takeaways from the loss.
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Welcome Back, Ullmark
The former Bruins goalie was greeted to loud cheers as he led the Senators onto the ice for warmups. Ullmark also reunited with Swayman on the ice near the benches for a hug and a photo before puck drop. During the first TV timeout a video tribute was shown on the jumbotron that included highlights from Ullmark’s three seasons in Boston and included some highlight-reel saves. He then raised his stick to the crowd while receiving a standing ovation.
When it came time to play, though, Ullmark was all business. The goalie made some good saves in the first period during Boston’s power play — one on Brad Marchand and another on an Elias Lindholm rebound.
Penalty Kill Continues To Struggle
Going into Saturday’s game the Bruins’ penalty kill was ranked 23rd in the NHL, killing just 75.8% of penalties. The struggles continued when the Senators went on the power play in the final two minutes of the first period. Josh Norris one-timed the puck past Swayman with 7.8 seconds left to give Ottawa a 1-0 lead. Norris had a wide-open look with Nikita Zadorov and Charlie McAvoy below the goal line and Brad Marchand and Charlie Coyle on the same side of the ice.
The Bruins Killed the second Senators penalty 52 seconds into the middle period and killed another Zadorov penalty. The defenseman now has 29 penalty minutes this season.
Bruins Get Two Quick Goals
After falling in the first the Bruins answered back in the second period with two goals in 15 seconds to make it a 2-1 game. Zadorov made a nice play to keep the puck in the zone that allowed Zacha to score on a nifty spin-around and tie the game. Marchand followed suit and found the back of the for the second straight game. The captain now has eight points in as many games.
Bruins Pass Happy On Power Play, Charlie McAvoy Struggles
The Bruins made several passes on the power play that provoked several “shoot!”chants from the crowd. While they were plenty pass-happy throughout the game, including a few from David Pastrnak where he had a good look at the net, McAvoy’s struggles on the team’s top power play unit were on full display on Saturday. The defenseman had a wide-open lane and elected to pass the puck as the second period was coming to an end.
Fundamentals Weren’t There At Times
The Bruins struggled to win faceoffs, played poor defense in their zone and continued to give up quality shots for passes. The poor defense cost them in the second on Amadio’s goal. The Bruins also had 21 giveaways, including five from Hampus Lindholm and three from McAvoy.
No Shots On Goal In The Third
The Bruins made it easy on Ullmark in the final 20 minutes of regulation after not registering a shot on net in the third period. Mark Kastelic had Boston’s last shot of the game at 13:13 of the second period.
