NHL: Boston Bruins at Seattle Kraken – Source: Imagn

The Boston Bruins were handed a decisive 5-1 loss by the Seattle Kraken on Thursday. Bruins captain Brad Marchand voiced his frustrations over the team’s penalty issues in the first period that led to their unraveling.

The Bruins were hit with a major penalty just seconds into the game when David Pastrnak received a double minor for high-sticking. The Kraken capitalized quickly, with Oliver Bjorkstrand scoring on the power play to give Seattle an early 1-0 lead.

A few minutes later, Bruins forward Tyler Johnson was penalized for tripping Kraken defenseman Will Borgen. Marchand did not mince words when commenting on the team’s early penalties, saying (at 4:48):

“Yeah, we just put ourselves in a really bad spot. Obviously, guys are trying to take penalties. But, we go down that quick in a game, which is, really deflating, and gives them a ton of momentum and allows them to feel really comfortable and confident in game.”

The Bruins were unable to recover from the early deficit, with Marchand’s second-period goal (penalty shot) the only response in a 5-1 blowout loss.

Marchand acknowledged they still had time for a comeback but credited Philipp Grubauer (who stopped 33 shots) and Kraken’s defense for holding them off. Oliver Bjorkstrand scored twice for Seattle, while Jared McCann, Vince Dunn and Jaden Schwartz added goals in the win.

Brad Marchand on Bruins 5-1 loss to Kraken

Brad Marchand pointed out that the team needs to capitalize on more of those opportunities rather than looking for the perfect play.

He acknowledged the team passed up too many shots in favor of trying to make passes through the middle of the ice. Marchand, critical of the team’s defense, said:

“I mean we got to clean it up defensively big time, you know, we can’t be giving up five and six goals a game, we’re, that’s not the type of team. we are, yeah, we got some pucks on net and we had some good opportunities, we push after they get up to nothing but we still need to be better.”

While Brad Marchand, noted they generated offense and pushed back after falling behind early, Marchand emphasized the team still needs to be much better overall.

The loss dropped the Bruins to 15-13-3 on the season as they look ahead to Saturday’s game against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena.