If there is one thing that happens on a nightly basis with the Boston Bruins, it's that they get frustrated with the officiating. Part of it is their own fault, as they usually take more minor penalties than their opponent, and while not all the calls are legit, it's easy to see why they get frustrated.
Against the San Jose Sharks on Sunday night, Bruins forward Sean Kuraly, usually mild-mannered, was low-bridged by former Boston defenseman Dmitry Orlov, trying to enter the Sharks zone after he got rid of the puck. No tripping penalty was called before. The puck went down the other end into the Boston zone, and defenseman Jonathan Aspirot was called for tripping. As his teammate was being sent ot the box, Kuraly had words for the officials. What was it?
“What do you call it when someone has their legs taken out from under them, you tell me,” said Kuraly. “I didn’t like it. Both my knees were hyperextended . . . but, hey, what are you going to do?”
Like he said, what are you going to do? But the point was valid. If that had been a former Bruins captain, I'm sure it would have been a penalty with the league likely looking into the hit. I think you know who I'm talking about.
No California Dreamin'
It's always nice to go to California, but the Bruins are turning into a frustrating trip. They tend to struggle out there, and that was the case the last five days. They went 1-2-0 against the Anaheim Ducks, Los Angeles Kings, and Sharks.
“California is always one of the toughest trips,” said David Pastrnak. “Always low-scoring games. You have to bear down on your chances when you can, but at the same time, it’s hard to find the tempo of the game. You could see in the third, we started to get in the tempo a little bit better. It’s just my opinion, but we don’t get enough to the net, and that’s where you [draw] the penalties.”
What is going to be frustrating for the Bruins is that they left points on the table in their two losses. They allowed a late goal to the Ducks in the third period that broke a 3-3 tie in a 4-3 loss. After surviving another third-period meltdown against the Kings to win in overtime, they were frustrated by San Jose goalie Yaroslav Askarov, who made 34 saves. They close the trip with a very difficult game against the New York Islanders on Wednesday night.
Bruins goaltending thriving in Providence
The Providence Bruins are off to a 13-3-0 start in the American Hockey League (AHL), and a lot of it has to do with their goaltending. Simon Zajicek and Michael DiPietro have combined to create a dynamic duo.
DiPietro is 7-2-0 with a 1.89 goals against average and a .938 save percentage. Zajicek is 6-1-0 with a 1.70 GAA and a .942 SV%. The P-Bruins are hitting the road and will spend the American Thanksgiving holiday in Canada on a road trip.
