BOSTON — Patience is becoming quite the virtue for a Kraken team that lately on this road trip has been saving its best for last.
Unfortunately, while theirs paid off with the tying third-period goal for a third straight game Tuesday night, the Boston Bruins had a little left in the tank as well. David Pastrnak’s second goal of the game on the power play with 9:11 to play handed the Kraken their second straight 3-2 loss suffered in the late stages of a contest.
The Kraken have trailed in the third period of all three games of this trip only to find the equalizer. They wound up winning in overtime in Pittsburgh last Thursday, but then lost in the closings seconds Sunday versus the New York Rangers.
This time, they found themselves down 2-0 heading into the final frame as Pastrnak one-timed home his first of two on the power play midway through the middle frame.
Later on in the period, it would be Taylor Hall ramming home a loose puck past Chris Driedger with 3:51 to go after Riley Sheahan failed to control it out in front of the net. Driedger was making his first start in goal since Jan. 15, having gone into the team’s COVID-19 protocol.
But Joonas Donskoi, who knows a thing or two about patience, got the Kraken on the board 42 seconds into the third period with his first goal this season in his team’s 47th game.
The TD Garden crowd looked on stunned as Donskoi’s goal from the high slot was followed just under seven minutes later by Mason Appleton redirecting the puck home for a tying marker.
As they had in this road trip’s first two games in Pittsburgh and against the Rangers in New York on Sunday, the Kraken were evenly matched with tough opponents throughout the contest.
But they didn’t score at all until late in the Penguins game before pulling out an overtime victory. Then, against the Rangers, they had just one goal until nearly 59 minutes had been played and then wound up losing in the dying seconds.
One hallmark of this trip against some of the league’s better teams in tough rinks to play in has been the Kraken matching opponents stride-for-stride through most of the contests. Another evident trait, though, is their inability to score early.
For the second time in three nights, they failed to score in either of the first two periods.
