BOSTON -- We could all look back on a truly forgettable Thursday night loss to the Buffalo Sabres as the beginning of an extended downturn for the Bruins.
Certainly, the lack of “energy” and “life” on the ice was concerning as it’s one of the few games this season that the Boston Bruins looked like they mailed out like a Christmas card while losing 3-1 and getting outshot by a 19-6 margin in the first period. This came one day after a team practice where Jim Montgomery could be heard barking loudly on the ice during 2-on-2 drills when the pace, energy and execution simply wasn’t to his expected standard.
At one point during the drill, the B's bench boss could be heard loudly chastising his defenseman for a lack of physicality around their own net, a problem that has cropped up when it comes to holding one-goal leads late in games this season. All of that turned into a monumental dud on the ice in a loss that goes up there with a disappointing road defeat at the hands of the Blue Jackets a couple of weeks ago.
“We just didn’t have any energy or life,” said Montgomery. “I’ve got to take responsibility for the lack of us having that. The preparation clearly was incorrect. I was worried [about this] after the way we practiced yesterday.
“I expect us to get better every period. We went from awful to poor. Never really got to average.”
None of it was tremendously surprising coming off two days off the ice for the B’s where it was a complete off-day on Monday, and an optional practice on Tuesday after back-to-back wins over the weekend against Toronto and Columbus. But it was somewhat eyebrow-raising to see against a Sabres team that the B’s have routinely handled over the last handful of seasons, with the lack of anything remarkable in defeat aside from captain Brad Marchand scoring his fifth consecutive goal for the team.
The real concern right now?
Watching workhorse defenseman Charlie McAvoy exit the ice with an upper body injury after getting clocked with what looked like a raised elbow on a reverse hit from JJ Peterka as the two players converged on the puck. There was no penalty on the ice stemming from the collision during a physical affair between both sides.
The reverse hit elbow from JJ Peterka on Charlie McAvoy that knocked him out of last nights game with an upper body injury. At the very least should have been a penalty on the ice pic.twitter.com/C28GBanZ4J
— Joe Haggerty (@HackswithHaggs) December 8, 2023
Immediately after the hit the Bruins defenseman appeared dazed and stayed on the bench for a few minutes before heading back to the locker room. He wasn’t seen again during a tightly contested game with Buffalo, or in the postgame dressing room after it was all over.
“Obviously a huge loss,” said Mason Lohrei, who clocked in with 16:53 of ice time in his first game after being called back up to Boston following Derek Forbort being placed on long term injured reserve. “He’s one of our best players and one of the best defensemen in the league.
“So that sucks. But it’s part of the game. We’ve got to rally together and finish out the game.”
McAvoy was immediately diagnosed with an upper body injury after not returning to Thursday night’s loss and the suspected fear is obviously that the Bruins top defenseman has suffered a concussion after absorbing a Peterka elbow squarely to the face.
“Upper body. I don’t have any extent. I’ll have more news for you [on Friday],” said Montgomery.
McAvoy has experienced some concussion issues in the past, including one during the 2018-19 season that put him on the shelf for several months and limited him to 54 games played for the season. Any kind of extended McAvoy absence would be a big blow to the Boston Bruins particularly with the B’s already absent a rugged, physical defenseman after Derek Forbort was placed on LTIR with a lower body injury.
If the Bruins are down both McAvoy and Forbort, that is going to compromise their penalty killing, physicality around the net in the defensive zone and put a huge strain on Hampus Lindholm and Brandon Carlo as the two workhorse defensemen likely to pick up more of the slack in all areas.
It’s truly an area where the Black and Gold can’t afford to be stretched any thinner than they already are this season.
“That’s a gap that’s hard to fill. Obviously [McAvoy is] our best defensemen when you’re in those situations when you’re down by a goal or two,” said Brandon Carlo. “He’s a guy that you want on the ice. It would have been very nice to have him being down a couple of goals. But just like anything injuries happen, and bad games happen, and we continue to move forward.”
Meanwhile, at the other end it was old friend Connor Clifton making plays and helping the Sabres gain some payback against his old Bruins club. The scrappy bottom pair defenseman made a nice offensive play driving the net and dishing to Tage Thompson for a scorched one-timer from the high slot that served as the game-winning goal for Buffalo.
Tage Thompson is back 🚀
— The Charging Buffalo (@TheChargingBUF) December 8, 2023
Absolute missile of a one-timer past Ullmark to give the Sabres a 2-0 lead. pic.twitter.com/iOy0317GyO
Clifton also buried Kevin Shattenkirk at the Sabres net during a scramble for the puck in a one-goal game that immediately preceded Victor Olofsson scoring at the other end to give Buffalo their much-needed insurance tally. It hasn’t exactly been a banner year for Clifton in his new Sabres home after signing there in free agency, but the longtime Bruins defenseman showed exactly the kind of attitude, mean streak and intermittent offensive spark that Boston has been missing at times from their group this season.
The bottom line: Boston experienced one of their worst regular season losses of the season on Thursday night to the lowly Buffalo Sabres, and it could be made all that much worse if McAvoy is lost for an extended period of time after catching an elbow to the face late in a lackluster B’s loss.