Losing streaks are inevitable, stretches of poor play are inevitable, and, of course, unfortunate bounces are inevitable. However, those inevitabilities can feel like navigating a swamp, which, frankly, the Boston Bruins are knee-deep in.
Following the All-Star break, the Bruins are 1-3-1 and have swapped between struggling to get out of their own way and mentally unprepared to play. Outside of last Saturday’s loss to the Washington Capitals, it has been the former rather than the latter.
Tuesday night against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Boston battled back from a 2-0 deficit and had two golden chances to win in regulation. The first came off the stick of Brad Marchand in the waning moments of the third period, sending a shot past a sprawling Andrei Vasilevskiy but just over the crossbar. Next, as overtime was expiring, Charlie Coyle found the puck on his stick, only to be hauled down in the slot by Anthony Cirelli. Tampa prevailed in the shootout, but Boston had their chances.
Similarly, against the Seattle Kraken on Thursday, Boston was awarded a power play with the game tied 1-1. James van Riemsdyk got inside positioning behind Joey Daccord and redirected a pass through the blue paint and painfully just wide of the post. Moments later, Eli Tolvanen gave Seattle a 2-1 lead off an odd-man rush made possible by Brandon Carlo losing an edge at his attacking blue line.
“We’re not getting the results right now,” said head coach Jim Montgomery. “It’s gonna take some sandpaper goals where it goes off of us and stuff.” Frustration, perhaps mounting, made no easier deploying a 2-for-30 power play in their last nine games, which largely plays into their recent struggles.
But a little late-season adversity never hurt anyone. Not that long ago, Boston had everything go their way, so adapting to struggle and working out of it is an exercise in perseverance.
Considering how much time has been spent reminiscing on 100 years of Boston Bruins hockey this season, I’ll leave you with a quote from former Bruin Brett Ritchie. “It’s an 82-game season. We weren’t going to go 80-3 or whatever it was.”
