Bruins' last-second loss left Patrice Bergeron, Tuukka Rask nearly speechless
The Boston Bruins have found some spectacular ways to lose games this season, but Thursday night might take the cake. The team's last-second, 3-2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes represented a new low for Boston's hockey club, and left a pair of Bruins legends nearly speechless.
The Bruins and Hurricanes were tied 2-2 in the final minute of regulation and looked destined for overtime. But Nikita Zadorov's stick shattered as the defenseman tried to pass the puck out of Boston's zone, and the biscuit went right to Carolina's Seth Jarvis, who easily beat Joonas Korpisalo with 19 seconds left for the game-winning goal.
The play and the loss were a microcosm of Boston's season, with the defeat dropping the Bruins to 28-28-8 on the year and further from the playoff picture.
To make the goal even more painful, it came less than a minute after interim head coach Joe Sacco successfully challenged an uncalled offsides, which took Taylor Hall's potential game-winning goal off the board for the Hurricanes.
Jarvis' game-winning tally was the 27th goal allowed by the Bruins in the final two minutes of any period this season, according to Ty Anderson of 98.5 The Sports Hub. It was just another painful gut-punch for the Bruins and Boston fans.
No one should be surprised the Bruins lost in such spectacular fashion, but the manner of the defeat left Patrice Bergeron and Tuukka Rask at a loss for words.
Bruins legends react to last-second loss
Thursday night happened to be one of NESN's "Unobstructed Views" alternate broadcasts, which featured Bergeron and Rask alongside Andrew Raycroft. That trio saw a lot during their playing days, but they could hardly believe what they witnessed Thursday night.
"Oh no. No! That did not just happen," reacted Bergeron. "Are you kidding me right now?"
Rask was left shaking his head and rubbing his face as Zadorov' turned the puck over.
lmao pic.twitter.com/JmNfuzCtSr
— Marina Maher (@marinakmaher) March 7, 2025
Thursday night's loss was Boston's eighth in the last nine games. The Bruins have already made two trades this week, and general manager Don Sweeney is expected to sell off even more pieces -- including captain Brad Marchand -- ahead of Friday's 3 p.m. trade deadline.