A quick look at the NHL standings shows the Boston Bruins are a heavyweight contender, but back-to-back losses have marked a bump in their long and winding road of the 82-game season.
The Bruins will aim to halt their modest skid on Monday night when they visit the Columbus Blue Jackets.
“We’ve got to get to our identity, which is a pretty good forechecking team that can hang on to pucks,” Boston coach Jim Montgomery said after Saturday’s 7-4 loss to the Rangers in New York. “We weren’t very patient with the puck in the offensive zone, which led to them coming at our defensemen with a lot of speed.”
The Bruins have allowed at least five goals in three of their last four games (1-2-1).
Although Charlie Coyle scored twice in New York, Boston’s overall effort just a day after losing 5-2 to Detroit was questionable at best.
The Bruins had not suffered regulation losses on consecutive days in over two years, since Oct. 27-28, 2021.
“That’s unacceptable — not the way we do things,” Coyle said. “There’s no reason for that, so I can’t sit here and tell you why that happened. It shouldn’t happen, and we’ll fix that.”
The Bruins’ goaltenders split the last two games. Monday’s starter has not been announced, although Jeremy Swayman likely will get the nod after Linus Ullmark had the net in New York.
Defenseman Matt Grzelcyk had returned to the lineup after a 10-game absence due to an upper-body injury.
Columbus fell to 3-8-2 in November after surrendering three unanswered goals in the third period of a 3-2 setback to the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday.
After beating Chicago and New Jersey on Wednesday and Friday, respectively, the Blue Jackets were on the verge of their first win streak of more than two games this season. The two victories followed a nine-game skid (0-7-2).
“It’s the same thing over and over again,” forward Johnny Gaudreau said. “We’ve got to learn. We keep shooting ourselves in the foot. When there’s 10 minutes left and we’ve got a two-goal lead, we’ve got to find a way to win that game, especially with a big kill (in the third).”
Kirill Marchenko and Gaudreau each scored a goal in the third period, and Elvis Merzlikins made 40 saves.
Monday marks the second half of the Blue Jackets’ fourth back-to-back set this season. Their 22 games played through Sunday were tied for the most in the NHL.
Amid that busy stretch, defenseman Damon Severson injured his oblique. Forward Mathieu Olivier or defenseman Andrew Peeke could be inserted into the lineup on Monday.
“It certainly has a toll on you,” Columbus coach Pascal Vincent said. “But I think, as a team, we’ve been doing a good job at managing the rest and effort in practices and making sure we do the right things.”
Gaudreau had a goal and an assist in Carolina, extending his point streak to three games (one goal, three assists). Captain Boone Jenner was held off the scoresheet vs. the Hurricanes to halt his four-game point streak (four goals, one assist).
–Field Level Media
