Bruins
“Our execution has been poor, and that shows in the games. The way you practice is the way you play.”
The Bruins coughed up eight goals against the Jets on Tuesday night. (Fred Greenslade/The Canadian Press via AP)
Joe Sacco said the quiet part out loud Monday afternoon.
Yes, the Bruins were 7-2-0 since Sacco took over the team in mid-November.
But Boston has enjoyed one of its lighter streaks of the 2024-25 campaign during this stretch, with only one of those nine games coming against teams currently in the postseason.
That game took place against the Vancouver Canucks on November 26 – a game that Boston controlled for significant stretches, but found no semblance of a scoring touch in a 2-0 home loss.
Even with Boston buoyed by a four-game winning streak, Sacco stressed that the immediate returns gleaned from the last few weeks wouldn’t mean much if his team fell flat on its face during a daunting five-game road trip.
“I would like to see how we react. I think it says a lot about your team when you hit the road, who your group is and how it responds to different environments,” Sacco said at Warrior Ice Arena. “We are going to face one of the best teams in the league in our next match. I won’t look too far ahead because Winnipeg will obviously be a great challenge.
“But I think it’s important that we stay true to who we are and that’s what has made us successful in recent times. But it’s a road test for us.
So far, the Bruins are failing.
After allowing just three goals in a single game since Sacco took over, the Bruins were let down by a talented Jets team, losing a lopsided 8-1 result at the Canada Life Centre.
“It was going to happen,” lamented Brad Marchand after Tuesday’s result. “Our practices were botched. Our execution was poor and that carried over into the games. How you practice is how you play.
“We lost to a better team tonight, from start to finish,” Sacco added.
After establishing an identity as a stingy, physical hockey club over the past three weeks, Boston lived up to its building on Tuesday. Well, as far as the physical is concerned.
But three losses to Trent Frederic, Mark Kastelic and Nikita Zadorov in the third period – with the Bruins already down 6-1 – won’t ease the pain that awaits them when the Bruins watch the film again on Wednesday.
Once again, the Bruins offense struggled to get shots off on Tuesday – with only a one-timer from David Pastrnak beating quality goaltender Connor Hellebuyck in the second period.
But all of the progress Boston has made recently in terms of D-zone coverage, discipline and goaltending all dissipated in Tuesday’s beating.
After canceling out 90.9 percent of opposing power plays since Sacco became interim head coach, the Bruins’ penalty kill has coughed up three Winnipeg goals on six occasions.
Boston was whistled for nine penalties in total on Tuesday – with a high-sticking double minor from Brandon Carlo opening the floodgates for Winnipeg via a Vladislav Namestnikov tally at 12:09 of the game.
The 5v5 game wasn’t much better.
“We made it an easy night for them and they were just doing what they wanted today,” Pastrnak said. “There’s a lot of penalties…there’s a lot of defensive mistakes at 5-on-5.”
Ironically, the Bruins actually held a 13-5 advantage in high-danger scoring chances during a 5-on-5 game against Winnipeg.
But Boston’s lack of finishing against a top guard like Hellebuyck — coupled with a bad night from Jeremy Swayman — led to a lopsided result.
Swayman was scratched for a career-worst eight goals in the loss – a frustrating step back for a number one goaltender who had a .918 save percentage in six games since Sacco’s promotion.
As noted by Ty Anderson of 98.5 The Sports Hub, this was the first time a Bruins goaltender allowed eight goals in a single game since Dan Vladar in April 2021, as well as only the fifth time this has happened since 2003.
Despite only generating a 1.84 expected goals rate at 5-on-5, the Jets managed to score five against Swayman during this important period of play.
“Some of the goals I scored, I know I can stop them,” Swayman said. “And that’s something that I consider a norm, and when you let them in, it’s not a great feeling. I want to make sure this doesn’t happen again and stay sharp and play my game. I know I can stop these goals. So that’s what I’m going to do and move forward.
The road won’t necessarily get easier for the Bruins on this long road trip.
The Bruins still have the Kraken, Canucks, Flames and Oilers in this campaign, with Vancouver, Calgary and Winnipeg already in playoff position as of Tuesday night. The Oilers and Kraken are both three points or less out of a wild card spot.
Boston’s record might reflect a team that has started moving in the right direction under Sacco. But that optimism was always going to be undermined by the quality of competition they’ve faced in recent weeks.
And in one game of this road trip, the Bruins aren’t doing much to dispel the doubt that this roster isn’t that much better than the fodder they’ve beaten in the previous nine games.
“It’s not the start of the road trip we wanted, but we’ll look at some things, we’ll fix some areas that need to be fixed like we always do, and we’ll come back to it tomorrow during testing,” Sacco said.
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