At this point, it’s safe to say the Bruins made the right decision about changing out their head coach.
The B’s improved to 6-2-0 in eight games under interim head coach Joe Sacco with a 4-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center on Wednesday night. They have allowed a paltry 15 goals for less than two goals allowed per game, killed off 95 percent of the power plays they’ve faced and have even seen a solid uptick in offense as the Black and Gold have scored 23 goals for a solid 2.875 goals per game.
The @NHLBruins are rolling under Head Coach Joe Sacco! #NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/6dAIIMS4j4
— NHL Network (@NHLNetwork) December 5, 2024
Beyond that, the game in Chicago was the second night of a back-to-back with travel and the third game in four days when sheer will can have as much to do with winning hockey games as the skill displayed on the ice. Sacco has also shown good intuition with his strategies employed with the Bruins as he pieced together a super trio of Brad Marchand, Elias Lindholm and David Pastrnak that supplied two goals, and the second line of Justin Brazeau, Pavel Zacha and Morgan Geekie kicked in a pair of goals as well.
It also marked the first three-game winning streak of the season for the streaking Bruins, who haven’t exactly beaten the NHL’s iron in besting the Canadiens, the Red Wings and the Blackhawks.
But they have taken care of business against teams they should be beating while playing to their traditional identity with physical, committed and smart two-way play, which was far from the case in the first 20 games of the season under Jim Montgomery.
“To have a game like we did tonight, we weren’t great in the third, but we built up,” said Marchand. “We got a really key goal there in the third by [Geekie]. But the first two periods were good. This time of year, with the travel and the schedule, with that back-to-back, we’re definitely very happy with the win and getting those points. You have to continue to climb in the standings. Every point matters. Huge win for us tonight, one we can continue to build on.”
It was also quite a response for the Bruins captain after the TNT crew had some fun with him prior to the game calling him out and “suspending him” for roasting analyst Paul Bissonnette for a brawl he was embroiled in a few days prior to that.
We take broadcaster safety extremely seriously, therefore Brad Marchand has been suspended a full-year from the Mr. TNT competition for his comments against @biznasty2point0 on the 11/29 broadcast 🤣pic.twitter.com/kvAnANmV7d
— NHLonTNT (@NHL_On_TNT) December 5, 2024
Needless to say, the bear was poked and the gauntlet was thrown to Marchand, who stepped up as he always does and scored the two goals while taking over the team’s goal-scoring lead with 10 goals scored in 28 games.
If the Bruins are going to sustainably increase their offense from what’s been a struggle in the first few months of the season, it’s going to come from secondary offensive production from players who have struggled. Geekie has been a poster boy for those early-season struggles, but he broke out while showing some really good chemistry with Brazeau setting him up in a pair of scoring plays.
The second Geekie goal was a nicely executed stretch play where Mason Lohrei intercepted a puck, got it to Brazeau and he threw a long pass behind the Blackhawks' defense to Geekie as he beat Petr Mrazek glove hand for an important insurance score.
“It was good,” said Geekie. “He (Brazeau) made a nice play. He found me twice today. You see him make plays like that all the time, so it's no surprise to anyone. I just try to get to the right spot for him and he made a great play.
"I was trying to kind of hide. [Marchand] made another good change and I was trying to hide behind the second D. I honestly didn't say much. I saw him get the puck and tried to take off. Normally that's your first look when you're kind of outnumbered in the zone."
The “good change” attributed to Marchand is exactly the kind of smart, unselfish, situational hockey that teams engage in for sustained team success, and it breeds more once those little details turn into tangible offense on the ice. It also shows that No. 63 was doing the right things. Beyond finishing off a couple Pastrnak plays for goals that everybody can see as a successful hockey play.
That goes along with the blocked shots (much of them in the third period protecting a small lead) and consistent physicality that’s been present as of late. The Bruins had a whopping 40 hits in the Tuesday night win over the Red Wings, including eight apiece from Trent Frederic and Mark Kastelic in a game where the B’s also had good puck possession and weren’t chasing it all against Detroit.
“Small increments, and we try as a staff to help the team get better every day,” said Sacco. “We talked about getting back to an identity that we wanted to get back to and reach that again. So, it’s really about the process. I know it’s a cliché, but it really is. We focus on certain things we can control every day. Hopefully the results and the score take care of itself.”
Still, there are things that need to be better for the Black and Gold.
The power play was 0-for-5 against the Blackhawks after the second power-play unit scratched for one goal against the Red Wings, and still rank dead last in the NHL with an 11.8 percent success rate that is sometimes hard to fathom with the amount of offensive talent on that top unit.
The bottom line, though, is that the Bruins are firmly entrenched in an Atlantic Division playoff spot with a five-point cushion, and things have undeniably been improved since Sacco took over the Boston bench.
