Bruins No Longer Super Men At Garden, Shut Out By Kraken For Their First Regulation Home Loss Of Season

Bruins defenseman Hampus Lindholm tackled the Kraken's Justin Schultz in the first half, leading to a Boston play.

The Bruins, who have dominated all season at home and can leap tall buildings, lost their Superman on Causeway Street Thursday night, falling 3-0 to the Seattle Kraken in their first loss at the Garden this season.

The loss ended a season-best 19-0-3 start at home and sank Seattle goaltender Martin Jones with 27 shots in his first shutout of the 2022-23 season.

"Mental fatigue, not physical," Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said of the Kraken's speed, which began to change lines in the second half after his attack into the offensive zone. “Our kids were very open, it didn't matter who ... we played hard all year. We did not see those performances. "We didn't delay one second, we delayed two seconds and then we tried to force the game."

Despite the loss, which ended their 14-game (11-0-3) streak by at least one point, the Bruins remain atop the NHL standings with a record of 32-5-4, having lost five straight. Set 82 games to keep at least 1 point in the first half.

The Maple Leafs will host the Garden on Saturday night, a matchup of the best teams of the season. One of the Bruins' five losses came on Nov. 5, 2-1 at Toronto, a night their only shot was a Brad Marchand penalty.

"I don't know if anyone thought it would be half of our record," Charlie McAvoy said. "You know, it's hard to win in this league and it's crazy to do what we do."

Seattle's victory, sparked by Brandon Tanev's goal 7:14 into the first half, marked the third time the Bruins have been held scoreless at home this season. It has become the latest trend in home ice. In Boston's last four games, including the Winter Classic at Fenway Park on Jan. 2, they've gone from top to bottom in overtime.

The Bruins are 20-18 and 122-45 in their last four home games. Rushing is usually not a recipe for success.

Linus Ullmark lost his star to the Bruins, but suffered his first loss in a 2-1 loss in Toronto. The leading contender for the Vezina Trophy finished the first half of the regular season 22-2-1.

By Montgomery's unofficial count, Ullmark had a dozen Class A scoring chances before the coach had five minutes left in the game. Montgomery thought the Bruins combined for 7 Class A shots, and the coach's numbers might be generous.

It was Seattle's seventh straight win, the last six coming on the road. Former player Ili Tolvanen made it 2-0 with 22 seconds left in the second and Jayden Schwartz had a goalless shot at 1:50.

On the second drive, Montgomery created a Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-David Pasnak triple that brought down Craig Smith. Montgomery moved Taylor Hall to 2nd place with David Krejci and Pavel Zaha. The donkey you wanted didn't come. The Kraken continues to offer what Montgomery calls "sauce."

"I was confident the whole time we were going to come back," Montgomery said. "The biggest difference I noticed in the third period was that we didn't have any charge. That tells me that our battery was a little low."

The Bruins open a three-game stretch in California on Sunday, return to practice on Wednesday and then face a much flatter Iowa cornfield in the Hub.

Tanev got Seattle going for the first time at 7:14, deflecting Ullmark's shot before going behind the net to grab the rebound off Kraken forward Dan Sprong's quick low stab off the right wall.

The Kraken finished the first 20 minutes with a 1-0 run and a 14-8 shot advantage.

The sophomore expansion team kept the momentum going in the second and added a field goal to make it 23-18. Overall, unlike how the Bruins have played all season.

The second "Bryuns" was lucky to score only until the last minute. Without Ullmark, three or four people would have been lost.

The Bruins may consider getting a veteran shortstop for the second half of the season.

Finally, 22 seconds before the break, the Kraken extended their lead to 2-0 when Tolvanen hit a wrist dart from the left side. Schwartz tied it into the empty net with a long arm.

"Tonight, I think maybe physical, not so much," McOy said, adding that the fatigue factor may have been more mental than physical. "But there are no excuses. You have to come out and play every night and we didn't play well enough to get a result tonight."