The Bruins have improved their team defense significantly since making their coaching change. That much is not up for debate.

But Joe Sacco can’t wave his magic wand and create more scorers in the B’s lineup. And it doesn’t help that their best legitimate sniper is going through one of the worst droughts of his career.

The B’s defeated the Vancouver Canucks at long stretches Tuesday night at the Garden, but they just couldn’t beat journeyman goalie Kevin Lankinen and lost 2-0.

Old friend Jake DeBrusk scored on a challenged power play goal in the second period as the B’s went 0-for-3 on their power play, including two advantages in the third period. The B’s applied pressure with the extra skater, but Elias Lindholm missed a great opportunity, hitting Brad Marchand in front of the net before Scituate’s Conor Garland ended it with an empty-netter.

While there are snakebites in Boston’s lineup, one stands out. David Pastrnak, who was stopped on a breakaway in the second period, has scored just two goals in 14 games and none in his last five.

But you didn’t have to look far for a silver lining in this one, if you were so inclined. There haven’t been many defeats this season after which the B’s could reasonably feel they deserved a better fate. But Tuesday’s game was one of them. The B’s outscored the Canucks 33-15 and the shot attempt differential was even greater at 72-31. To their credit, Vancouver blocked 26 shots.

Is there a sense that the B’s are on the cusp of something?

“You have to believe that. It has to be,” said Charlie McAvoy, who landed two shots and had five blocked. ‘The dam will break at some point. I just hope it’s soon. We just have to keep playing the right way. We are emphasizing defense here and we are doing a great job and I think it has helped our attacking game. We just can’t score.”

That three-game winning streak remains elusive for the B’s, who had their modest two-game winning streak snapped under Sacco. And the B’s did get some chances.

“Maybe not enough, but if we do have them, we just have to start burying our chances,” said Sacco, who suffered his first defeat. “We are now giving ourselves the opportunity to participate in competitions. The guys are playing hard on defense…but offensively we just need to get some guys going and find their scoring touch.”

The Bruins had a lead in the game in a scoreless, action-packed first period, outscoring the Canucks 9-3. Pastrnak had the first shot for both teams six minutes into the game, a hard strike from the left circle.

The only “highlight” to speak of was the double video tribute to returning former Bruins DeBrusk and Danton Heinen, both of whom received a polite, warm welcome.

The B’s had the only two real scoring opportunities. First, Marchand tried to center a pass to Lindholm at the top of the crease. Lindholm couldn’t get a handle on it, but it ended up to Justin Brazeau, who had a half-empty net to shoot at, but defenseman Erik Brannstrom managed to get a piece of it and send it over the glass.

The other opportunity came when Morgan Geekie stole a puck from a board battle and turned it into a wide open slot. Lankinen had to be sharp to deflect Geekie’s hard wrist.

On the other hand, the B’s gave the Canucks very little in the first twenty minutes.

The B’s had a great chance to take the lead early in the second when Pavel sent Zacha Pastrnak in on a breakaway with a great blue-to-blue backhand pass. Pastrnak made a nice move to his backhand and almost sent it through Lankinen’s pads, but the goalkeeper was just able to cut it off with his back pad. McAvoy followed up the rebound and sent it into the crease, but there were two Vancouver defenders in the crease supporting Lankinen to prevent Geekie from getting to it.

The B’s lost some momentum when Marchand executed an offensive zone cross-check on Garland.

Then the heat left the building for DeBrusk. During the power play, Quinn Hughes threw the puck at the net and it hit Garland high. The puck fell to DeBrusk for an easy backhand tap-in at 5:53. It was the first PP goal the B’s allowed in the nine tries since Sacco took over and they also had their first deficit of the Sacco era.

Sacco disputed that the puck hitting Garland’s glove constituted a handpass, but the goal was upheld, stating that although the puck hit Garland’s glove, it was not a handpass. The B’s were forced to end the automatic penalty for the failed challenge, which they successfully did.

Sacco was confident the goal would come off the board.

“I was only because of what happened in the past. I remember one play where one of our guy’s gloves got hit and one of our players didn’t move his hand at all. And they called it,” Sacco said. “When I looked at it, it hit, I believe it was Garland’s hand, and it went straight to the eventual scorer. I was confident, otherwise I wouldn’t have called. But I give credit to our guys, they killed the next one, which was important because it kept us in the game.

The B’s eventually regained their position and Mason Lohrei drew the first Vancouver penalty when he pushed his way into the slot and Brock Boeser hacked him. But while the first unit had decent puck movement, they couldn’t get a great shot on the net at Lankinen and the lead disappeared.

To come away with points in this game, the B’s had to do what they haven’t been able to do since the first home game of the season: score a third-period goal at the Garden. They had a 22-9 lead at that point, but a clean sheet where it mattered.

They threw eleven more shots at Lankinen, thanks in part to the two power plays, but that didn’t change anything.

The B’s have now scored a total of three goals in the three games since the coaching change, and they’ve scored just one 5-on-5 goal in their last 14 terms of hockey. As McAvoy said, the dam has to break at some point.

Right?

“I’m sure they’re frustrated, but we can’t let that get to us,” Sacco said. “The boys just have to dig in and persevere. We need to turn this around quickly. We have another (Wednesday) night (in Long Island). We have to be ready to go.”

Originally published: November 26, 2024 at 9:47 PM EST