There is no telling where the Bruins will end up this season, but wherever it is, at the moment they are going the wrong way.
After booting away a 2-0 lead in the second period on home ice, and working against themselves much of the night with a litany of penalties (11 total for 31 minutes), the Bruins lost for a third straight time last night, 4-3, to the Buffalo Sabres when ex-Bruin Brad Boyes knocked home the winner off a Nathan Gerbe relay with 3:44 gone in overtime.
“You see some strange shots when you give up 46 of them, or whatever it was,’’ said Boston goalie Tim Thomas, who saw Buffalo amass a 45-29 shot lead for the night. “We had some stupid penalties, some questionable calls, but you can’t keep giving them chances.’’
The loss was Boston’s second in three nights and came only 48 hours after a flatfooted 4-1 loss in Montreal that included the hit by Zdeno Chara that left Canadiens forward Max Pacioretty with a severe concussion and a cracked vertebra.
Chara, with the sellout Garden crowd of 17,565 chanting his name in support of the captain in the first period, played a meaty 25:54 and added two assists, no doubt to the chagrin of thousands of irate Habs fans still convinced that he targeted Pacioretty and intentionally tried to maim him. The league ruled on Wednesday that Chara would not face any disciplinary action or fine for what it deemed to be not an excessive hit on Pacioretty.
“We all feel bad for him,’’ Chara said again late last night, nearly an hour after the loss. “Rivalry or no rivalry . . . we all want to see the guy recover.’’
Meanwhile, Bruins fans are eager to see their hometown heroes recover the pluck and strut that recently had Claude Julien’s swashbucklers rolling along to seven straight wins. Where did that team go? The Bruins will be on Long Island tonight, facing the pesky Islanders, and they will be trying to shake an 0-1-2 funk in which they have been outscored, 11-6, while also going 0 for 8 on the power play. Not a confident squad, especially on the man-advantage, which has gone eight straight games without a strike (0 for 19).
Last night was bad for both of Boston’s special team units. The power play was 0 for 3, although two of the Bruins’ goals came in the seconds immediately after power plays expired. The penalty kill, which twice was faced with five-on-three disadvantages, was burned on two of seven kills — after yielding two PPGs to the Habs on Tuesday.
