Unfortunately, it feels like it is time for a change when it comes to the Boston Bruins.
The Bruins are in stop-and-start mode these days as winning efforts are sprinkled in with familiar mistakes and problem areas for a hockey team that’s simply treading water as a .500 group that can’t get on a roll.
This time it was the first game since 2006 when the Bruins didn’t register a single shot in the third period before dropping a 3-2 overtime decision when Brady Tkachuk scored the game-winner just 19 seconds into the extra session. There were more penalties taken and power play goals surrendered in a season-long variation on the same losing scene, but this time around the complete no-show in the final 20 minutes was the most concerning aspect in defeat.
After the game Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery said it looked like his team lacked “intensity, for lack of a better word” and mentioned “malaise”, but also said he’s out of answers about why the third period has been a problem for his hockey club.
"I don't have an answer,” said Montgomery, when asked about the problematic third periods. “We’ll talk to the sports science [staff] and we'll look at it and come up with answers, but right now I don't have an answer for it.”
More directly, Montgomery was asked if he questions whether the Bruins players are no longer receiving the message he’s sending as the head coach as they seem to be meandering through the open to this season.
“No, I don’t question that,” said Montgomery in quick response.
Then why isn’t the message seemingly getting through with discipline issues, special teams’ collapses and a many more losses than this team is used to early in the season?
“That's up to you guys [in the media] to figure out and come up with a reason,” said Montgomery. “We just weren't good enough. You guys can write about what you guys think is the malaise on the team and what’s going on. We just weren’t good enough.”
Honestly, it’s not a good look for an NHL head coach to say he doesn’t have the answers or the reasons behind a team struggling, and it doesn’t exactly inspire confidence that his team will find a way out of the self-described malaise. Saying “we just weren’t good enough” isn’t getting the job done when the Bruins have absolutely shown they have the talent when the strikes them to play the right way.
That being said, the players said they didn’t believe Montgomery’s message was having trouble getting through to them.
“I wouldn’t say that. It’s not one of those things where [the message] is not getting through,” said Pavel Zacha, who scored one of the two goals in a 15 second outburst in the second period. “We just didn’t have the game today that we wanted to play. He is telling us exactly what to do and we couldn’t deliver it, so I think we have to take ownership as players and deliver the things that he’s telling us.
“We have to play more simple [hockey]. And even if you’re getting frustrated, not try to make those plays that you don’t have and learn from that.”
The players are saying the right things, but actions on the ice speak a lot louder than words and it certainly doesn’t look like the instructions and coaching are consistently filtering through to their play on the ice. Sure, there are new players that have to fit in and gel with the existing group of Bruins, and there are going to be problem areas on this team offensively until they land another goal-scoring winger ahead of the trade deadline.
But it feels like a move needs to be made with a coach who hasn’t been as effective in getting the players to do what they need to do in order to consistently win this season, and the longer the Bruins wait, the more they risk falling out of playoff contention and fumbling away much needed “regulation wins” they will need as tie-breakers when playoff time rolls around.
ONE TIMERS
*It seemed like a matter of time before Tyler Johnson was going to sign with the Bruins and it finally happened over the last week as he inked a one-year deal worth $775,000 after Max Jones was put on waivers and sent to Providence. Johnson hasn’t factored into any points as of yet, but he is a plus-3 in three games while averaging 14:02 of ice time and skating with David Pastrnak and Zacha, who have both played better hockey while skating with the veteran winger. Nobody should write off either Jones or Riley Tufte helping out the B’s at some point this season despite getting sent to the AHL, but it sure feels like Johnson is a better option to help them right now after finally signing an NHL contract.
*It was only a matter of time after he’d enjoyed some of the best scoring chances in the early going for the Bruins without cashing in, but Pavel Zacha has officially caught fire for the Black and Gold. Zacha has goals in each of the last two games and it may not be a coincidence that his latest offensive push has coincided to a move back to his familiar center position alongside Czech countryman David Pastrnak.
*Congratulations to Jack Edwards on having his day at TD Garden where he could feel the love from the fans and be recognized as the Johnny Most of this generation as a home team-leaning, colorful color analyst who provoked as much as he entertained and informed. Edwards had a unique style that was articulate, emotional and a great fit for the Boston Bruins fan base, and Jack Edwards night including dedicating the NESN booth to him with a mural that will be a permanent fixture after his 19-year run as the voice of the Bruins.
“I grew up with two newspapers, the Boston Herald and the Boston Globe and I read Joe Fitzgerald and Tim Horgan and Will McDonough and Leigh Montville and it impacted me in a way that kids don’t have now,” said Edwards. “It told me the value of words and I incorporated that into my style and I’m an emotional guy. And it was an organic fit between my style – and I don’t work with kids to emulate that style – but it worked for me, and it was a dream come true. To have my name in that booth is an honor I couldn’t have dreamed of.”