The Boston Bruins continue to fight hard, but continue to come out empty-handed with a sixth straight regulation defeat.
BOSTON -- How long can this go on for? That's the question surrounding the Boston Bruins following a sixth-straight regulation loss last night.
Last night brought yet another gut-punch to the Bruins, scoring twice in 30 seconds with five minutes to go, turning a 5-3 Anaheim Ducks lead into a 5-5 hockey game.
It took 30 seconds for Anaheim to pop the balloon of excitement.
"This is devastating," Charlie McAvoy said postgame. "The way we're losing these games. It's just, it's killing us. We're fighting so hard, and we just can't stop beating ourselves. So it's, yeah, it's pretty defeating right now."
McAvoy and the entire room were filled with clear frustration. Joonas Korpisalo said he was embarrassed for allowing six goals, though it'd be hard to fault him for most of the ones that went in.
He made multiple big-time saves following defensive breakdowns, including this gorgeous save in the second period:
Without Korpisalo, it could have been much worse.
As for the rest of the team, as they reflected on a gutting 7-5 loss, they pointed to some positives while ultimately admitting it's hard to take any positives away.
"We started really well," Bruins Head Coach Marco Sturm said. "I thought we had a really good 10 or 12 minutes. I thought there was good energy on the bench. But again, we kicked ourselves with some bad shifts, and all of a sudden, those bad shifts unfortunately end up our net right now.
"And I felt like, 'here we go again,' so that was my thought process just looking at my guys in front of me."
That feeling of dread surrounding the Bruins is a very tough thing to work through. Sturm said winning even just once usually changes that vibe very quickly. Still, he made it clear they have to work harder and not
"10 minutes here, 10 minutes there. That's not going to work," Sturm said. "I can tell you this, guys are committed. Guys are working extremely hard. Most of the guys. Some guys have to pick it up."
For Sturm, he entered this year knowing the team needed more offense. He came in prepared to address that, and it's safe to say his approach has worked well enough.
Boston sits tied with the Carolina Hurricanes for the second-most goals in the Eastern Conference with 29 goals. It's been the defense that's held everything back.
"I thought it would be more work offensively than defensively. That’s where I’m really surprised,” Sturm said. “Yeah, we tweaked a few things system-wise. But still, it should be in our DNA. That’s the Boston Bruins’ DNA — playing solid, good defense.
“And then we go from there. And now it almost goes — we are the opposite, right? We’re looking for a lot of goals, and forget about our own end. So that part is tough to understand a little bit. Where is that coming from, right?”
That specific frustration came from around the locker room, too. A missing defensive identity costing this team points.
"We’re scoring five [goals]. That should be an automatic win all the time,” Nikita Zadorov said. “That’s not our identity. So we’ve got to work on it. We’ve got to find a way to shut it down before it gets too late.”
It's the second time this season Boston's scored five goals in regulation and walked away empty-handed. The close losses pile up. Two straight home games, two straight games with a late Boston equalizer, undone by a defensive breakdown moments later.
"I mean, it happens every game, it seems,” Morgan Geekie said of the trend. “Our coaches prepare us with everything we need for the game. And I mean, it’s just embarrassing — to the fans, to everybody… Growing up, everybody watched the Bruins, and everybody hated to play against the Bruins because of how they played.
“And that’s something that I think our identity needs to be. And I think in games like today … we just get away from that, and we have the team to be able to play like we should, with the culture and the integrity of being a Bruin. It’s just that we start to think that we’re something else, I think. And when we do that, we get away from what we’re really good at, and that’s just playing good, hard hockey.”
The idea of moral victories was not popular in the room last night.
"We know we fight. That’s great," McAvoy said. “But we just can’t find ways to even get the point right now. We give it up right as soon as we get it. Got to find a way to change it.”
Geekie couldn't have been more transparent with his feelings on how the season's going. He even fired a warning shot for how the rest of the season may go if things go on like this.
"It’s tough to be glass-half-full, to be honest with you,” Geekie said. “I think everybody’s sick of it in here. The new guys, the guys that were here last year that went through everything and saw everybody get shipped out at the deadline... You can’t ruin your season at the start. But it can get out of hand pretty quick. And I think that’s what’s going to happen if we don’t turn things around.
"It’s a great group of guys in here. And the reality, I think we saw last year, is what happens when you don’t perform. And that’s the way things seem to be going."
“You see friends walk out the door because guys don’t do their job, it seems,” Geekie said. “That’s the reality. I love every single guy in here. I know we have a great leadership group. The team we have is sustainable. We play a really good game of hockey when we’re on our game.
"But when we get away from that and have lapses like you saw tonight, it seems like it happens over and over and over again. If we can’t turn it around, the issue lies in here. If we can’t turn it around, obviously everybody knows what’s going to happen."
Of course, Geekie refers to the trade deadline exodus of multiple Bruins. With some pundits already floating names like Pavel Zacha and Casey Mittelstadt, the longer this slide goes, the louder the volume gets.
Boston, and Boston alone, can seize control of the ship. It might only take one win to change the dichotomy and emotion in the room.
Tomorrow, they welcome in the Colorado Avalanche, a team that thoroughly outplayed Boston a week ago in Denver. It's a perfect shot for potential revenge, a win that could jolt life back into the season.