As Bruins fans we all have the priveledge of watching a bunch of young up-and-coming rookies zipping around all over the ice; it really is a blessing. Unfortunately, we are also stuck watching a bunch of young up-and-coming rookies make mistakes.

This game was so frustrating to watch. The first period was exactly what you want to see from this team. All four lines were putting together good shifts, skating hard and beating Buffalo to the puck. The forecheck was clicking, they were causing turnovers and cashing in on Buffalo mistakes, which all lead to a 3-0 lead early in the second period.

After that is when it started going south. The Bs were getting careless with the puck and didn’t have the same sense of urgency on the ice. I don’t really need to tell you that Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak each scored two goals, you could go to the box score and find that out for yourself. Outside of Boston’s top scorers from last year, there weren’t any contributions from anyone else, despite an exciting first period. I’ll admit, Anton Khudobin didn’t exactly look sharp, but he wasn’t really getting any help from his defense throughout much of the second and third periods.

The serious theme that’s concerning me is this team’s lack of ability to close out games. Obviously, Saturday ended as an overtime loss, but the Bruins started the game out-shooting Buffalo 13-6 in the first period. They went on to be outshot 42-31 on the night, including a 6-0 deficit in OT. Opening night Boston was up 4-1 on the Predators but put us on life support in the last three minutes as it eeked out a 4-3 victory. Even Thursday night’s 6-3 win over Vancouver wasn’t quite the blowout that the final score might suggest. Sure, the scoring ballooned to 5-1, but then the Bs let Vancouver sneak back in with two goals of its own in the second. Luckily, Patrice Bergeron iced the game in the third.

It would be nice to string some wins together during the remainder of this homestand, because the team won’t get very far dropping every other game. And, we have yet to see a fully healthy lineup in any game this season. Adam McQuaid broke his leg blocking two shots, that’s fine. Kevan Miller, where are you?! Ryan Spooner, David Krejci– if you two could plan on manning up that would be cool too. This weekend’s installment against two tough California teams will need all hands on deck if the team is going to come away with any points.