DETROIT \u2014 Rumors are swirling that a coaching change could be coming for the Boston Bruins, and Wednesday\u2019s outcome hardly helped Claude Julien\u2019s cause.
\u201cIt\u2019s unacceptable what happened these last two games,\u201d said star center Patrice Bergeron.
WHO: Blackhawks at Bruins
WHEN: 7 p.m. Friday
TELEVISION: NESN
In Detroit on Wednesday, the Bruins opened with a dominant 20 minutes \u2013 playing most of the first period in the Detroit end and claiming a 4-1 lead on two goals by Frank Vatrano, and one each by Brandon Carlo and Bergeron.
Then it all fell apart, as the Red Wings answered with three goals in the second period and went on to prevail 6-5 in a shootout, handing the Bruins their second straight devastating defeat.
How could the Boston coach explain his team\u2019s being so good in one period, and then the opposite?
\u201cWe collapsed. It\u2019s pretty obvious,\u201d said Julien. \u201cIt was just one of those games, we didn\u2019t get the save when we needed it, and we made some mistakes which gave them some chances. A lot of things went wrong after we took that lead.\u201d
Goalie Tuukka Rask blamed himself for the loss, saying he should have stopped at least one or two of the shots that went in.
\u201cI let in five goals in regulation and that\u2019s obviously too much,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve got to make a couple more saves. I wouldn\u2019t say they were really weak goals, any of them. But I could have done something differently and stopped one or two of them.\u201d
Yeah, but it wasn\u2019t his fault the guys took their big lead and then shut down.
\u201cI think maybe we got a little complacent,\u201d Marchand said. \u201cYou knew they were going to get ripped after the first and they were going to come out hard.
\u201cThey did and we just weren\u2019t ready for it. It seemed like every time we had a breakdown, they were scoring.\u201d
Boston now faces a Friday date at home against the powerful Chicago Blackhawks. They\u2019ll either find their game or fall out of the playoff picture, and perhaps find themselves with a new coach.
\u201cYou\u2019ve got to play for 60 minutes,\u201d Bergeron said. \u201cYou can\u2019t take your foot off the gas pedal because teams are too good and they\u2019re going to make you pay. That\u2019s what they did. They took advantage of the chances we gave them in our zone.\u201d
The Bruins know what they need to do to win. But not being able to do it for three periods is their flaw. Maybe their fatal flaw.
Tavares has seven goals in four games after scoring twice and then having an empty-net shot just deflected wide.
Jay Beagle, Brett Connolly, Marcus Johansson and Justin Williams also scored to help Washington earn at least a point for a 12th straight game.
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