Penalties continue to doom Bruins in ugly shutout loss to Leafs

Penalties continue to doom Bruins in ugly shutout loss to Leafs originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

All the progress the Boston Bruins made in their two shutout wins last weekend was erased, and then some, in a brutal 4-0 loss to the rival Maple Leafs in Toronto on Tuesday night.

The main problems for the Bruins, which have been massive issues through the first 14 games of the season, were too many penalties and a lackluster penalty kill.

The B’s took eight (!) minor penalties, which gave the Leafs a whopping seven power-play opportunities, and they scored on three of them. Taking that many penalties against any opponent is unacceptable. Doing it versus a team like the Leafs that has so much offensive firepower is a recipe for disaster.

Even without first-line center Auston Matthews — who missed the game due to injury — the Leafs have more than enough high-end talent to punish the Bruins penalty kill. William Nylander is an elite offensive player. He scored a goal with one assist on the power play. Mitch Marner, another elite forward, tallied two assists on the power play.

After a scoreless opening 20 minutes, the Leafs found the back of the net twice with the man advantage in the second period. The first was a goal by defenseman Morgan Rielly at 8:44 of the period. Less than a minute later, David Pastrnak high-sticked Jake McCabe, giving Toronto another power play. It didn’t take long for Nylander to make Pastrnak and the B’s pay with another goal.

The Bruins are the most undisciplined team in the NHL. There’s no debating it. They lead the league in penalty minutes and minor penalties.

And it’s not just that the Bruins lead the league in penalties. It’s not even close, either. They have taken at least 12 more penalties than every other team.

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Many of these penalties are dumb mistakes, frankly. Stick infractions and offensive zone penalties are killing the B’s right now. They took three tripping penalties, one hooking penalty and one high-sticking penalty against the Leafs. All of those penalties are avoidable. They happen because of a lack of discipline.

The penalty kill hasn’t been good, but in fairness to that unit, it’s hard to be lights out consistently when you’re on the ice for six to 10 minutes most games. The Bruins have given the opponent four or more power plays in nine of their first 14 games. Their opponent has had five power plays in eight of 14 games.

If you’re a Bruins fan looking for something positive out of all this, it’s that many of these penalties can be erased with better discipline and just smarter hockey. For example, David Pastrnak has taken 1.79 penalties per 60 minutes through 14 games. He was at 0.66 last season. There’s plenty of room for improvement there.

The penalties can be cleaned up. Figuring out how to score at 5-on-5 and fixing the power play will require a bit more work.