The Boston Bruins face the Eastern Conference bottom-dwelling Columbus Blue Jackets after suffering consecutive losses for the first time this season. Bruins coach Jim Montgomery wants to see his group’s response after the last two games.
After losing two games in a row for the first time this season, the Boston Bruins will aim to get back into the win column against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena on Monday at 7 p.m.
The Bruins lost 7-4 to the New York Rangers on Saturday, allowing seven goals in a regular-season game for the first time in over a year (7-5 loss to the Ottawa Senators on Oct. 18, 2022).
Bruins coach Jim Montgomery told reporters in Columbus on Monday that the team had a group meeting to refocus after the last two losses.
“Talking about where we are and how we need to get better, I think put guys in a good perspective today, and I think we’ve had positive attitudes,” Montgomery said.
The loss allowed the Rangers to surpass Boston as the top team in the NHL based on points percentage, but now the Bruins turn around to face a Columbus team with the fewest wins in the Eastern Conference (6-12-4).
Columbus is on the second leg of a back-to-back after falling 3-2 to the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday. The Blue Jackets scored twice in the first 6:41 of the third period to take a 2-0 lead before allowing three unanswered goals in the final 10 minutes.
“Columbus is a real gritty team,” Montgomery said. “They’re playing well in a lot of areas. I think it’s up to us– sometimes the schedule doesn’t favor you, and that’s happened to us at times. But sometimes the schedule favors you. You know, we’re sitting at home, I think we have to have a good start, and we got to play a 200-foot game.”
After suffering a slew of injuries which took some key depth pieces out of the lineup for multiple weeks, the Bruins are as close to full strength as they were at the beginning of the season, with Matt Grzelcyk being the latest to return after missing 10 games with an upper-body injury.
As a result, Mason Lohrei and Patrick Brown were sent back to AHL Providence on Saturday. Lohrei had four points (one goal, three assists) in his first 10 games of NHL action, while Brown has one assist in eight appearances this season.
Montgomery said Kevin Shattenkirk will draw back into the lineup for Ian Mitchell, but he wants to see how the forward group responds after their performance against the Rangers, so that will stay the same.
Five Things to Know About the Blue Jackets:
- Defenseman Zach Werenski leads the team in scoring with 15 points (one goal, 14 assists) through 20 games. Captain Boone Jenner leads with 11 goals and is second with 14 points through 22 games.
- Columbus has the ninth-lowest scoring offense (2.82 goals per game) and 10th-worst scoring defense (3.45 goals per game) in the NHL
- Despite rolling with the fifth-worst power play (10.5%) in the league, the Blue Jackets boast the second-best penalty kill (88.9%), which has surpassed Boston’s penalty kill (88.2%) after the Bruins allowed three power-play goals across the past two games
- The Blue Jackets have lost 10 of their past 12 games, including a nine-game losing streak from Nov. 4 to Nov. 19.
- Forward Johnny Gaudreau scored four points over the past three games for Columbus after scoring just seven points through the first 19 games.