Bruins Know They Need To Be Better in Upcoming Divisional Matchup Against Sabres

Instead of shooting around at the end of practice, the Boston Bruins geared up for rounds of sprints – some hauling the full length of the ice, others darting between the sideboards.

Following the B’s 3-2 overtime loss to the Montreal Canadiens Saturday night at the Bell Centre, coach Jim Montgomery was not satisfied with the effort from his group, and he made sure to let them know.

“Obviously the last couple of days we haven’t been as dialed in as we’ve needed to be. That’s just the accountability piece that ‘Monty’ upholds every day,” captain Brad Marchand said to reporters after Monday’s practice at Warrior Ice Arena.

“It’s a good message to send when it feels like we are slipping a bit. Definitely give us a bit of a wake up call.”

The Bruins, who still hold a shiny 11-1-2 record, will look to get back to their winning ways against the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night at KeyBank Center with a 7 p.m. start time. Boston will likely roll with similar – if not the same – lines and pairs against the Sabres as they did in Montreal.

Brad Marchand - Pavel Zacha - David Pastrnak

James van Riemsdyk - Charlie Coyle- Trent Frederic

Danton Heinen - Matt Poitras - Jake DeBrusk

Jakub Lauko - Johnny Beecher - Oskar Steen

Mason Lohrei - Charlie McAvoy

Hampus Lindholm - Brandon Carlo

Derek Forbort - Kevin Shattenkirk

Patrick Brown - Ian Mitchell

Linus Ullmark

Jeremy Swayman

The only difference here is Kevin Shattenkirk slotting back onto the third pair with Derek Forbot – Ian Mitchell filled that spot on Saturday – and Linus Ullmark getting the start.

The Bruins have three days off after their game against Buffalo, but will follow the rest period with six games in 10 games, a notable increase in action compared to the team’s early season schedule. Montgomery cited this as one of the reasons for his tough love in Monday’s practice.

“Just trying to create maybe a little more stamina and skating legs,” Montgomery said. “Our schedule has been a little unorthodox as far as there’s been a lot of spacing between games…The spacing on the games just creates – where we just want to, after talking to sports [scientists] – where we want to jolt a little bit more into the system.”

Boston’s offensive production hit a high note during Thursday’s 5-2 win over the New York Islanders – which included a Charlie Coyle hat trick. However, the Bruins’ overall 5-on-5 team play slumped the next game, and the room knows it has to get back to focusing on the details.

“The last game is hopefully just a one-off and we’re getting back to managing the puck better, breaking the puck out better, coming out of our D-zone better, neutral zone counters better, hanging onto pucks better,” Montgomery said.

Marchand echoed that sentiment, saying his team’s compete level “wasn’t where it needed to be” and that Montomgery had “every right to send that message” with the end-of-practice sprints.

Jake DeBrusk finding his groove will be a big part of jump starting the Bruins’ 5-on-5 success. The winger, who is in a contract year, has posted just one goal and four assists through 13 games. DeBrusk is currently skating on a line with Matt Poitras and Danton Heinen, and he understands the personal task at hand.

“I think it’s one of those lines that I need to take control of and I need to drive. That’s something that’s hard in general in this league,” DeBrusk said. “But you’ve just got to be ready to go, and ready to do it and force things. Just demand the puck more is something I have to do just in general.”

The Hockey News will have full coverage of the Atlantic Division matchup, so be sure to follow along.