Bruins takeaways: DeBrusk leads Canucks to win as B’s offense struggles

Bruins takeaways: DeBrusk leads Canucks to win as B’s offense struggles originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

BOSTON — The Bruins have lost their first game since interim head coach Joe Sacco replaced Jim Montgomery last week.

Despite outplaying the Vancouver Canucks for large stretches of the game and dominating during 5-on-5 action, the Bruins suffered a 2-0 defeat at TD Garden, which dropped their record to 10-10-3. Ex-Bruin Jake DeBrusk scored a power-play goal in the first period, which ended up being the game-winning tally. Conor Garland added an empty-netter late in the third period.

The B’s came into this matchup with back-to-back wins, but they still haven’t won three games in a row all season. Boston has a 3-4-2 record after a victory.

The Bruins played very well defensively, and goaltender Jeremy Swayman made 13 saves on 14 shots (.929 save percentage). But he was outplayed by Canucks netminder Kevin Lankinen, who stopped all 32 shots he faced for his second shutout of the season.

The Bruins will be back in action Wednesday night against the New York Islanders on the road. But before we look ahead to that matchup, here are three takeaways from Bruins-Canucks.

Lack of finish still an issue for Bruins

The B’s entered Tuesday as the league’s lowest-scoring team at 2.32 goals per game. They also have the second-worst power play with a 12.8 percent success rate.

After failing to find the back of the net versus the Canucks, the Bruins have now gone six consecutive games without scoring more than two goals, and they’ve done it just twice over the last 11 games. Boston has been shut out four times already this season after being shut out just twice all of last year.

The Bruins controlled much of the game and earned a 72-31 edge in shot attempts, a 33-15 advantage in shots on net, a 36-11 lead in scoring chances and a 18-2 margin in high-danger chances. The Bruins led 20-4 in scoring chances (10-1 in high-danger chances) during 5-on-5 play after two periods but trailed 1-0.

The Bruins have been more aggressive offensively since Sacco took over as interim head coach a week ago. Two of their seven games with 30-plus shots this season have happened since the coaching change. Boston also has a 87-48 lead in scoring chances in Sacco’s three games in charge. But the lack of finish hasn’t improved, and that’s a huge concern for this team’s ability to make the playoffs.

Special teams hurts Bruins again

The Bruins have the league’s 31st-ranked power play and the 19th-ranked penalty kill. Both units were contributing factors to Boston’s loss against Vancouver.

The Bruins went 0-for-3 on the power play, including an ugly two-minute stretch about midway through the third period when they couldn’t generate one good scoring chance. Boston got another power play a few minutes later in the third period and tallied only one shot on net. Overall, the B’s registered just six shots and seven scoring chances between three power-play opportunities.

The penalty kill went 1-for-2 and allowed the only goal of the game in the first period. Brad Machand went to the penalty box for a really soft cross-checking call that shouldn’t have been made. But they had to kill the penalty regardless and couldn’t get it done.

Bad special teams have the ability to ruin games, and the Bruins don’t have much margin for error because they can’t score (see above).

Jake DeBrusk haunts former team with winning goal

Left wings Jake DeBrusk and Danton Heinen, in addition to defenseman Derek Forbort, all left the Bruins over the offseason to sign with the Canucks in free agency.

Forbort didn’t play Tuesday, but DeBrusk and Heinen did. The Bruins gave the two of them a video tribute during a timeout in the first period.

DeBrusk opened the scoring with a power-play goal in the second period. The play was reviewed for a potential high stick but the call was upheld. DeBrusk tallied three shots in 16:44 of ice time.

The Bruins definitely miss DeBrusk’s speed and goal scoring. He averaged 23.6 goals scored over his last three seasons in Boston, and he also developed into a good two-way player and penalty killer. DeBrusk has six goals in 20 games this season, which isn’t a super impressive total by any means, but it would rank tied for second on the Bruins with Brad Marchand and trail only David Pastrnak (eight goals).

Heinen was a valuable and versatile bottom-six forward for the B’s last season, and he’s off to a good start in Vancouver with 10 points (three goals, seven points) in 20 games. However, he didn’t tally a single shot in 16:53 of ice time Tuesday.