Bruins Earn A Point in OT Loss to Dallas

DALLAS - Not much was working in the Bruins favor entering Saturday night's game with Stars. Injuries to Zdeno Chara and John Moore left Boston without five of its six Opening Night defensemen and forced Connor Clifton and Jakub Zboril into the lineup to make their NHL debuts.
With so many moving parts on the back end, it was easy to expect a difficult night for Boston in the defensive end.

But despite the disarray on defense, the Bruins put forth a valiant effort, holding Dallas off the board through regulation to earn a hard-fought point in an eventual 1-0 overtime loss at American Airlines Center.
"I thought we played a solid game," said Tuukka Rask, who was brilliant during a 36-save performance, his first game back since returning from a leave absence. "A big battle, obviously missing some bodies in the defense. Everybody battled. We played a solid game and it resulted in one point."

Dallas finally broke through for the game's only score when Jason Dickinson capitalized on an odd-man rush, notching the winner off a rebound just 1:24 into the extra session. The loss dropped the Bruins to 1-3 in overtime this season.
"Overtime hasn't been our friend," said Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy. "We don't manage the puck, we give up odd-man rushes, we don't deserve to win. It's a lot of the same guys. Listen, you've got to defend when you don't have the puck. You've got to work to get back.
"You're gonna give up some shots, it's a lot of open ice, but we just don't stick with it. That's why we've lost three in OT quick and it's usually on an odd-man rush where we had the puck and didn't make the appropriate play."
More notes and observations from the Bruins' 1-0 loss to Dallas:

Bergeron Banged Up

Patrice Bergeron left the game briefly in the second period after taking a heavy check from Radek Faksa along the boards. The pivot went hard into the wall with his left shoulder and appeared to be favoring it for the remainder of the night. Bergeron played sparingly after the hit and totaled a season-low 13 minutes of ice time.
After the game, Cassidy said Bergeron suffered an upper-body injury and was not confident in his No. 1 center's status for Saturday night's game in Arizona.
"He'll be evaluated better in the morning," said Bergeron. "Right now, he was having a tough time finishing the game. It would lead me to believe he'll have a tough time playing tomorrow. But he's also a tough guy. We'll see how it is.
"He does have a few days in between games [after Arizona], there's that to look at. But at the end of the day, we've got to find out what the extent of the injury is first and go from there."
Following the hit by Faksa, Brad Marchand immediately responded, engaging the Stars forward in an attempted scrap. Ultimately, both were only sent off for roughing, but Marchand was given an extra two minutes.

Back to the Box

Marchand was sent off again just about five minutes later when he was called for slashing after tapping Dallas goalie Ben Bishop on the back of the leg. Bishop appeared to sell the call, leaving the winger displeased with the officials. Marchand was then given a 10-minute misconduct after making his way to the box.
"It happens at times. I think he sold it pretty good. It is what it is," said Marchand.
Cassidy believed the call was more about Marchand's reputation than the action itself.
"First of all, I don't think it was a penalty. It happens a hundred times a game," said Cassidy. "[A] phantom [call] like that happened to him in Nashville and he got nailed after. I think the frustrations are boiling over. The linesman calls him for a 10-minute misconduct. I didn't see what happened there. I don't know.
"I think people pay to see the best players in the world play. I don't think they show Brad enough respect, the officials. I've said that. He's got to earn it as well, so it's a two-way street. But at the end of the day, I don't understand that call at all."

Tuukka Time Returns

Rask was strong in his first game since Nov. 8, making a handful of stellar saves throughout the night, including a slick glove save of Valeri Nichushkin early in the third period to keep Dallas off the board.
"I didn't know what to expect," said Cassidy. "Hadn't played in a while. I thought he would be good. He wants to bounce back, prove to himself, his teammates, that he's ready to go and he was. He was terrific.
"Too bad we couldn't score a goal for him. Deep down, you just don't know when a guy hasn't played in a while if there's gonna be rust. He was excellent…deserved a better fate."

Clifton, Zboril Debut

Both Clifton (18:53 TOI) and Zboril (10:53) played solidly in their NHL debuts. Clifton racked up nine minutes in penalties, seven of which came after a scrum with Jason Spezza in front of the Bruins net midway through the third.
After absorbing a cross-check, slash, and whack to the head from the veteran, Clifton dropped the gloves, wasting no time picking up his first career fight. Both players were given an extra two minutes, Clifton for slashing and Spezza for cross-checking.
"When you dream it up, I don't think I'm gonna have nine penalty minutes my first game, but obviously emotions were high," said Clifton, who landed four hits and was paired with Torey Krug. "I don't really know what happened, ended up getting in a scrap…overall, obviously we wanted the win, but thought getting the first [game] out of the way was pretty good."
Cassidy was pleased with the engagement level of the former Quinnipiac standout.
"I thought he played hard, a little bit as advertised. He's gonna compete, he's gonna get his nose dirty, battle, he's gonna get up the ice and try to make some plays," said Cassidy. "I'm sure there's a few times when we look at the video that we probably want him to be more under control at times, but I like a guy that's assertive.
"Listen, it's his first game. He doesn't know when guys are gonna be healthy, wants to stick around. He wants to make an impression while still playing within the structure of the team and I thought he did a real good job with that."
Zboril, who played alongside Steven Kampfer on the B's third pairing, was not used as much, but landed three hits and a shot on goal.
"During the game I tried to keep it simple," said the 21-year-old Czech native. "I [made] some mistakes, but I kept working hard and during the game I started figuring out the way to play and felt more comfortable on the ice with the guys and felt more confident in myself.
"Feel like the first period wasn't the best one for me, but as the game was going on it got a little bit better."