The big question for the Boston Bruins entering the day was whether or not they would be able to find enough offense this season to really challenge for the Stanley Cup.
They did not find that offense on Sunday in a 1-0 loss to the New Jersey Devils. It is their 11th loss in their past 18 games, and this one might be the most frustrating one yet.
Not only were they unable to beat Devils goalie Mackenzie Blackwood for the first 59 minutes of regulation, they appeared to break through on two different occasions in the final minute only to have them result in nothing.
The first instance came when Patrice Bergeron appeared to score a game-tying goal with just over a minute to play in regulation with the goalie pulled. But the Devils challenged that goal for goalie interference, a challenge that they ended up winning to keep Boston off the scoreboard.
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As if that was not bad enough, they were literal inches (maybe even less than that) away from tying the game just before the buzzer when a bouncing puck appeared to be heading across the goal line only to have Blackwood miraculously get his pad over to kick it away before it could completely cross the goal line.
That play also needed to be reviewed with the the on-ice ruling being confirmed. Here is the play.
It is not that the Bruins played poorly on Sunday. They put 40 shots on goal and had their chances. But the concern with the team’s offense has to go beyond any one random game. It is a continuing trend of not enough offense and not enough of it coming from the lower half of the lineup.
For the season the Bruins find themselves in the bottom-10 of the league in goals per game and remain one of the most top-heavy teams in the league. If the top line of Bergeron, Brad Marchand, and David Pastrnak is not carrying the offense, they are not getting it from anybody. It has to be a massive concern and something that needs to be addressed.
Kyle Palmieri scored the lone goal for the Devils in the win.
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Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.