3 Takeaways From Bruins’ 4-1 Loss to Hurricanes

For the first time in the 2022-23 season, the Boston Bruins are facing adversity. On Jan. 28, they suffered their worst loss of the season against the Florida Panthers in overtime, 4-3. Less than 24 hours later, they suffered their third consecutive loss, this time at the hands of the Metropolitan Division leaders.

Outplayed for 60 minutes by the Carolina Hurricanes, the Bruins turned in their second consecutive uninspired outing in a 4-1 loss that was not as close as the final score indicates. Falling to 1-2-1 on their five-game road trip, which ends on Feb. 1 against the Toronto Maple Leafs, here are three takeaways from Jim Montgomery’s third straight loss.

Ullmark Kept Bruins In the Game

You can’t say this one was on Linus Ullmark. The Bruins’ No. 1 goaltender kept his teammates in the game with some big saves in the first and second periods. He finished with 32 saves and the outcome could have been a lot worse if it was not for him once again standing on his head.

He stopped Sebastian Aho in the second period on a breakaway while Boston was on the power play. Later in the period, Ullmark stoned Aho again with a big glove save on a Carolina power play. At the end of the period, Ullmark stopped Brett Pesce’s deflected shot from the point, then robbed Jordan Martinook on the rebound point-blank. In the third period, he stopped Andrei Svechnikov in close with the Bruins trailing 3-1 after Taylor Hall scored, but it was all for not on a night when Ullmark saw more rubber than his counterpart Frederik Andersen (24 saves).

Bruins’ Puck Management Was Not Good

Puck management has not been the best for the Black and Gold on the trip and it continued against the Hurricanes. In the first period, David Pastrnak turned the puck over at the offensive blueline and Aho took advantage with a goal on a breakaway. In the third period, Brandon Carlo turned the puck over at the defensive blueline and Seth Jarvis pounced on it and scored on a breakaway.

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Offensively, Carolina did a nice job of frustrating the Bruins with their zone entries at even strength and on the power play. In the second period alone, Boston had three power plays and registered just two shots in six minutes. In fact, the case could be made that the Hurricanes had the better of the chances while shorthanded. Defensively, in…