The Boston Bruins and San Jose Sharks lie on opposite ends of the NHL standings spectrum, but their respective trends have swapped ahead of a Thursday night clash in Boston.
Three consecutive regulation losses have dropped Boston from the No. 1 overall spot in the league, while San Jose is within two points of climbing out of the basement after banking back-to-back wins.
The Bruins’ struggles amid a stretch of nine games in 16 days continued in Monday’s 5-2 loss at Columbus, their third straight game allowing five goals or more, and fourth time in the past five.
“It was nice to practice and get back to some of the habits that we like to preach,” Boston coach Jim Montgomery said. “I think we’ve been an easy team to play against. … We’re hoping to grow out of this. It’s about moving forward. In a lot of ways, we’ve welcomed this kind of adversity.”
Even a rare pull of goaltender Jeremy Swayman — who is expected back in net on Thursday — in the first period and wholesale lineup changes could not spark enough of a comeback effort in Columbus.
Boston rookies Matthew Poitras and John Beecher did score third-period goals.
There are plenty of areas for improvement, but Montgomery and captain Brad Marchand know that it starts in the defensive end, and preventing odd-man rushes.
“You can’t expect to give up three and four breakaways a night and multiple 2-on-1s and expect to win a game,” Marchand said. “So, we need to be much tighter all over the ice defensively.”
Second-line center Charlie Coyle has been a major bright spot of late for Boston, posting points in five straight games prior to Monday. The Massachusetts native logged four goals and three assists in that stretch.
After playing six of their past eight games on the road, the Bruins will skate on home ice for four of the next five.
San Jose has won consecutive games – and taken points in three straight for the first time all season – to move to .500 (5-5-1) since starting 0-10-1.
“We’ve been scratching and clawing here over the past three weeks and I’m really proud of our guys,” Sharks coach David Quinn said. “They’re showing some characteristics that you need if you’re going to have a successful season.”
The Sharks look to “keep that good feeling going” to start a six-game road trip, forward Luke Kunin said. They are 0-9-0 away from home this season.
Kunin’s third-period, power-play goal was the difference in Monday’s 2-1 win over Washington.
With top center Tomas Hertl (off-ice injury) sidelined against the Capitals, Fabian Zetterlund also stepped up to score his sixth goal, tying his single-season career-high. Mackenzie Blackwood made 33 saves.
The Sharks’ lineup could soon be deeper as Hertl, fellow forward Alexander Barabanov (broken finger) and defenseman Jan Rutta (upper-body) are all traveling.
“We were in a tough spot (early). A lot of things that could have gone wrong did. …” Quinn said. “All of a sudden, we get a little bit of depth, get healthy and give us a chance to get our lineup together the way it was going to be when the season started.”
–Field Level Media
