The Boston Bruins' five-game win streak came to an end Tuesday night as they were steamrolled by the Carolina Hurricanes, 7-1.
Carolina put the game out of reach early with five first-period goals. Teuvo Teravainen, Jesperi Kotkaniemi (two goals), Seth Jarvis, Derek Stepan, Jaccob Slavin, and Andrei Svechnikov did the damage for the Hurricanes. Patrice Bergeron was credited with Boston's lone goal.
With the Pats finished, here's what you may have missed with the Bruins
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Here are three instant takeaways from the Bruins' loss, which brings them to 22-12-2 on the season. They'll look to bounce back from the defeat when they host the Washington Capitals on Thursday night.
Defense dooms Bruins in first period
Boston's defense was sluggish out the gate, and that ultimately cost the B's any shot at a victory as Carolina took advantage with five goals on 12 shots in the first period. It was an especially rough night for defenseman Connor Clifton, who didn't provide a whole lot of resistance in his first game back from COVID-19 protocol. A costly Urho Vaakanainen turnover also resulted in one of those Hurricanes goals.
For a visual of just how rough of a first period it was, take a look at the scoring chances below:
Not ideal.
Linus Ullmark replaced Tuukka Rask in net to start the second period as the second game of Rask's season didn't go quite as smoothly as his first. The Hurricanes went on to put two more goals past Ullmark in the third period to complete their 7-1 win.
Boston Bruins
"We didn't go a very good job in front of Tuukka," Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy said during his postgame press conference. "The D just didn't get it done tonight, for whatever reason. We'll move on. I don't think we did anything in front of Tuukka to help him tonight."
It's the first time the Bruins allowed five or more goals in the first period on home ice since 1982. It's only the eighth time in the franchise's 97-year history, per The Boston Globe's Matt Porter.
It's the third time in Hurricanes history they've scored five first-period goals. They also did so on March 4, 2004 and April 6, 2010.
Hurricanes cool off Bruins' red-hot offense
The Bruins offense had been on fire entering Tuesday night, largely due to the sensational play of stars Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak. They'll hope this loss was simply a blip on the radar.
Bergeron scored Boston's only goal on a power play in the first period, but it was quickly forgotten when Kotkaniemi scored minutes later. Hurricanes goaltender Frederik Andersen stopped all 31 of the Bruins' other shots.
Tuesday's loss marks the first time since the Bruins' Dec. 16 loss to the New York Islanders that they failed to score more than one goal. They scored at least three goals in each game during their five-game win streak.
Willie O'Ree's jersey retirement a bright spot
There weren't many highlights for the Bruins on the ice, but TD Garden was home to a historic night for the NHL when Willie O'Ree -- the first Black NHL player -- had his No. 22 jersey retired.
The Bruins raised O'Ree's No. 22 to the rafters, and the NHL trailblazer topped off the ceremony with a passionate speech from his home in San Diego.
Boston's loss to Carolina will be forgotten, but O'Ree's legacy officially will live on forever in Bruins lore.