Zacha 3rd period penalty, awful PK, and more: 3 reasons why Boston Bruins lost to Vegas Golden Knights

The Boston Bruins blew a 3-1 lead against the Vegas Golden Knights, dropping their Saturday afternoon matchup 4-3 at the TD Garden. The Golden Knights scored three unanswered goals to come from behind to beat the Bruins.

Brad Marchand, Nikita Zadorov, and Morgan Geekie scored for the Boston Bruins. Meanwhile, Mark Stone (PPG), Zach Whitecloud, Pavel Dorofeyev, and Tomas Hertl (PPG) scored for the Vegas Golden Knight.

Let's take a look at the three key reasons why the Boston Bruins lost to the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday afternoon.

3 reasons why Boston Bruins lost against Vegas Golden Knights

#3 Costly defensive mistakes

The Boston Bruins committed a number of defensive mistakes against the Vegas Golden Knights. However, one mistake stands out among the others.

During the sequence that led to the game-tying goal, the Bruins defense suffered a lapse that facilitated the Golden Knights’ chance to tie the game.

Here’s a look at the goal:

The replay shows that the Golden Knights came back on a 3-on-2 rush, but as they entered the Bruins’ zone, Shea Theodore fooled Boston defender Mason Lohrei, then slid the puck over to Pavel Dorofeyev who buried the puck past Jeremy Swayman to tie the game.

The Golden Knights would get one more to take the lead and the two points.

#2 Awful PK

The Boston Bruins’ penalty kill had a rough outing, going 2-for-4 on the game. First, Mark Stone’s power play tally late in the first period gave the Golden Knights a chance to get back into the game. Stone’s goal made the game 2-1.

Then, Tomas Hertl’s tally late in the third period gave the Golden Knights the lead following a Pavel Zacha slashing penalty. In both situations, the costly power play goals represented the difference between winning the game and dropping a tough decision.

#1 Zacha third-period penalty

Pavel Zacha got the gate for slashing late in the third period against Pavel Dorofeyev. The controversial call stood on the ice, setting the Golden Knights up for a late power play.

The Bruins had almost killed off the penalty, when Tomas Hertl connected on a pass from Jack Eichel and hit the back of the net.

The goal put the Golden Knights up 4-3. Then, less than a minute later, David Pastrnak took another penalty to stifle any chances the Bruins had to tie the game.

The Bruins head into the 4 Nations Face-Off break on a sour note. The Bruins will hit the ice again on February 22 against the Anaheim Ducks.