Bruins' Bottom Six Steps Up in Loss: 'They Kept us in the Game'

LAS VEGAS –– The Boston Bruins refused to go down easy.

Despite trailing the Vegas Golden Knights 6-3 at the beginning of the third period on Thursday at T-Mobile Arena, the B’s got depth contributions to pull within one before the final buzzer.

Mark Kastelic and Mikey Eyssimont’s goals in the final frame highlighted the strong play from the Bruins’ bottom six for the majority of the 6-5 loss. Boston got a cumulative six points from the latter half of its forward group, featuring two-point nights from Eyssimont and Sean Kuraly.

“They did their job,” head coach Marco Sturm said of the fourth line. “They played in their end the whole time because they went behind them, and they worked. That’s what we talked about before the game.”​

The Bruins got on the board early with a goal from Tanner Jeannot. The forward was stationed in front of the net and hopped on the rebound of Charlie McAvoy’s shot from the right circle, knocking it past Akira Schmid for the 1-0 lead at 2:05. It marked Jeannot’s second goal of the season.

The Golden Knights were quick to respond; Pavel Dorofeyev scored just over a minute later to tie things 1-1.

​Nikita Zadorov regained the Bruins’ advantage with a blast from the point while Jeffrey Viel and Kastelic took Schmid’s eyes away in the crease. The defenseman picked up his first goal of the year on the play and put Boston ahead 2-1 at 16:44.

Viel skated in his first game of the season on Thursday. The 28-year-old forward slotted in on the fourth line with Kuraly and Kastelic, and had one block and four hits through 11:50 of ice time.

“The fourth line was the best line, and he was a big part of it,” Sturm said of Viel.​

Cole Reinhardt found the equalizer with a wrist shot at 18:33, sending the game to the second period knotted at 2-2. Jack Eichel extended Vegas’ lead to 3-2 at 4:14 of the middle frame before a power-play goal at 6:35 from Tomas Hertl made it 4-2.

“When you’re going to chase the game, it’s hard. It is hard to come back,” Sturm said. “That is not our standard. Just have to be way better. Have to buy in on our defensive effort. That was just not the case today.”

David Pastrnak’s first power-play goal of the season came at 8:15. Morgan Geekie popped the puck over to Pastrnak on the left side, where he wired it home for the 4-3 scoreline and his sixth point of the year, which is a team-high. The forward wanted more from the 5-on-5 play, though.​

“Unfortunately, we have to own it – the top six, we weren’t there today. We didn’t create enough, didn’t get on the scoresheet,” Pastrnak said. “That’s a heck of a job by the guys from the bottom of the lineup. They played amazing. They kept us in the game, pretty much. We have to be better, the top two lines.”

A short-handed goal from William Karlsson closed the second period with the Golden Knights up 5-3. Karlsson then opened the third with a power-play goal for the 6-3 standing before Kastelic and Eyssimont made it a close contest. It, ultimately, was not enough.

​“It’s important. Never quit. Hockey is a wild game; you see crazy scores all the time,” Pastrnak said. “The season is so long that this kind of game is going to happen. We just have to make sure we are on the better side of it.”

The Bruins have two games remaining on their road trip. They will face the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday at 9 p.m. ET, and the Utah Mammoth on Sunday at 7 p.m. ET.