The Bruins are back in action Saturday night on Causeway Street against the red-hot Red Wings.
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It was a punch right to the gut of the franchise.
Fueled by a furious third-period rally, the Anaheim Ducks stunned the Bruins, 4-3, in overtime Thursday night, denying Boston the best start in the franchise’s 100-year history.
Instead, the Bruins fell to 6-0-1 after blowing a 3-1 lead when Anaheim scored a pair in the final two minutes of regulation, and Mason McTavish finished it off with the winner during the 3-on-3 extra session.
“Inexcusable,” said Bruins coach Jim Montgomery.
After smothering the Ducks (3-4) for most of the first 55 minutes, the Bruins lost focus over the final five. They went from structured to discombobulated, particularly in their end.
“A lack of poise with the puck. We had opportunities. I thought the game was over twice to convert an empty net. Guys whiffing on pucks. The guys were trying to go for the open net instead of using the walls as an indirect to clear and get off the ice. That was mostly it,” said Montgomery. “And then the other thing is we could have extended our lead to 4- or 5-1. We had many opportunities to do it and we didn’t finish the game.”
You could feel the sense of impending doom.
With Gibson still on the bench, Troy Terry tied it with a quick rising wrister from the right dot with just 15 ticks left on the clock.
Having seized the momentum, the Ducks controlled the overtime period and McTavish ended it, sneaking a wrister past Linus Ullmark (28 saves) off a pass from Carlsson.
“Well, those are games you want to finish the right way and those are points you need down the stretch,” said Charlie Coyle. “It’s tough to win this league. You’re never out of it. And we’ve got to learn from it.”
Then came the final five flurry that nobody saw coming. Getting to the puck and clearing it became a monumental task.
“Yeah, we’ve got to find a way to do that, and we have to play our structure the right way, whether they get a bounce or not,” said Coyle. “It’s up to us to put us in the best position to win a hockey game and we’ve got to get the puck out when the play’s there [or] teams will make you pay. It doesn’t matter who you’re playing, teams will make you pay and can’t afford to give them those opportunities. We’ve got to make them earn it and a few of those they didn’t.”