BOSTON – The Boston Bruins have given up all kinds of leads and committed unnecessary penalties in the third period this season.

But the Bruins did something in the third period against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night that they hadn’t done in almost two decades.

The Bruins failed to register a single shot on net in the frame and the Senators then scored the winning goal off the stick of Brady Tkachuck just 21 seconds into overtime for a 3-2 win at TD Garden. It was the Bruins’ first time didn’t make a shot on net in the third period since December 2006, according to Kevin Paul Dupont of The Boston Globe.

So why have third periods repeatedly been a problem for the Bruins? Jim Montgomery couldn’t put his finger on it.

“I don’t have an answer,” Montgomery said.

However, Montgomery will go to work finding one. Violation has been an issue in the last stanza of regulation. The Bruins have scored just five third-period goals this season and only one of those has come in the last 11 games.

‘Talk about it. Find out why,” Montgomery said. “We are going to look at what we do in sports science. We come with answers. I don’t have an answer for you at this time.”

Bruins star David Pastrnak may have one. He said the Bruins “weren’t hungry enough to score the winning goal.” Elias Lindholm almost buried his chance just seconds into extra time, but was denied by Linus Ullmark.

Montgomery doesn’t question whether his message is getting through to the team, nor does he have an answer as to why it isn’t resonating right now.

“It’s up to you to find out and come up with a reason,” Montgomery said. “We just weren’t good enough. You can write what you think is the malaise in the team and what is going wrong. We’re just not playing well enough.”

more tanning

One big takeaway from Linus Ullmark: Senators beat Bruins in OT

by Greg Dudek
3 minutes reading

Linus Ullmark got goosebumps during his emotional return to Bruins

by Greg Dudek
3 minutes reading

Here are more notes from Saturday’s Bruins-Senators game:

— Ullmark came away with the win in an emotional return to his former team. Ullmark didn’t need a lot of volume to get the job done, as he recorded just 14 saves. It produced the fewest saves he had made in a winning effort in his career and he felt the Senators had made a statement with their performance.

— Jeremy Swayman did his best to emulate his counterpart and former goaltender, but he faced a much heavier workload. Swayman stopped 31 of 34 shots.

— Pavel Zacha provided an offensive bright spot as he centered the second line with Tyler Johnson and Pastrnak on his wings. Zacha scored for the second straight game as he spun in the slot and beat Ullmark with a back-footed shot into the top of the net.

— The Bruins hit the road Tuesday as they take on the St. Louis Blues. Puck drop from the Enterprise Center is scheduled for 8:00 PM ET and you can watch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, on NESN.