One Big Takeaway From Bruins’ Heartbreaking Loss To Golden Knights

BOSTON — The Bruins had an opportunity to carry some momentum into the 4 Nations Face-Off but squandered it.

The Vegas Golden Knights erased multiple two-goal deficits to eventually come away from TD Garden with a 4-3 victory on Saturday. The B’s were in control throughout multiple points, including a wildly intense third period, but eventually fell in a game they should have won.

It’s kind of the story of their season.

The B’s got started early, as Zadorov and Brad Marchand connected for a beautiful goal just minutes into the opening frame. Zadorov scored a goal of his own a few minutes later, capitalizing on mayhem in front of the net that sent sixth-year netminder Ilya Samsonov to the ice without a chance in the world of stopping the puck. Samsonov then essentially gifted a goal midway through the second period, as his mishandling of the puck led to an easy putaway goal by Morgan Geekie.

The Golden Knights then recovered on the offensive end, pulling within one goal just before the second intermission (which is kind of a big deal) and tying the game just a few minutes into the third period. Zadorov broke the tie with what looked like his second goal of the game, but it was called off after referees determined Marchand interfered with Samsonov. Pavel Zacha then slashed Pavel Dorofeyev, leading to a power-play opportunity with just three minutes remaining in regulation.

Do teams ever end up winning after that?

No, it would appear they do not. Dorofeyev looked to have scored a goal at 18:19, but a referee discussion and a replay review ultimately determined that Mark Stone interfered with Jeremy Swayman.

Tomas Hertl didn’t care about how nice of a story it would have been for the home team to pull one out, though, scoring with just over one minute remaining in regulation.

Yuck.