Short on top defenders and one of the goalies has a rare less than stellar performance and this is the result. Don't think Ullmark was bad by any means but there were one or two he'd probably like to have gotten something on. But sometimes that's going to happen and then the lapses in defensive coverage become more noticeable.
Hockey can be a funny game - in the 2nd period the Bruins got outshot 12-3 at 5v5, 3 high danger chances against to 1, but they scored 1 and the only goal conceded was on a Detroit PP. Whereas in the 3rd they actually looked better and much more in the contest for the most part, but in was in that 20 that the defensive breakdowns and a little bad luck really hurt them. Arguably just some poor play catching up to them eventually.
Bit of a chastising night for the youngsters perhaps. Poitras scored a really nice goal but his line got dominated and the stats aren't pretty. The Bruins are probably lucky that Lalonde maybe missed a trick in only giving Larkin's line 1:30 against Poitras', because in that short time the shot count was 7-0 in their favor, including 4 high danger chances to 0. Not all on Matt of course, Freddy and Geekie have responsibility for that too, but just not a great game for that trio. And similarly the numbers don't flatter Lohrei either. From the eye test I don't think he was terrible by any means, but he got a close look at a quality NHL offense that was really pressing hard at times and found out how hard it can be to contain. That's ok, good learning experience for the kid, and he certainly wasn't alone in finding some of the going tough.
Obviously Carlo and Lindy are the Bruins' best remaining defenders and a natural top pair in the absence of McAvoy etc., but I wonder if Monty would be better served splitting them up against Dallas. As a pair they definitely held their own, but the remaining 4 guys got cut up pretty bad and so I'm not sure it was a net benefit. Lohrei with Carlo and Lindholm with Shattenkirk or Mitchell perhaps?
