Marchand has a telling response to Bruins’ embarrassing loss to Jets, originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
The Boston Bruins’ improvement under interim head coach Joe Sacco, including a 7-2-0 record since changing behind the bench, would be tested in a big way during this five-game road trip out West.
The Bruins failed embarrassingly in the first test in Winnipeg on Tuesday night.
The Jets, who entered the game tied at the top of the NHL standings, defeated the Bruins 8-1. Winnipeg led 2-0 after 20 minutes, 3-1 after 40 minutes and then defeated Boston 5-0 in the third period.
The result itself is a sharp reversal of what we’ve seen from the Bruins since they fired Jim Montgomery on November 19th. The Bruins are one of the league’s best defensive teams under Sacco. They entered Tuesday ranked second in shot attempts against, No. 5 in shots on net against, No. 2 in scoring chances against, No. 1 in high-risk chances against and No. 5 in goals against over his first nine games as interim. head coach.
That improved defense was nowhere to be found as the Jets, who have plenty of offensive talent (particularly Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor), took advantage of the Bruins’ defensive mistakes and punished a penalty they’ve struggled with all season.
The Bruins were undisciplined under Montgomery and still lead the league in minor penalties taken. They were undisciplined on Tuesday, allowing the Jets’ No. 2 team six chances, three of which they converted.
Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman also took a huge step back, giving up a career-high eight goals on 35 shots (.771 save percentage).
He posted a mediocre save percentage of .884 in 14 appearances while Montgomery was the coach. Before Tuesday, Swayman had a save percentage of .918 in his first six appearances since Sacco took over, but that number now stands at .890 after Tuesday.
Swayman now ranks last all season among qualifying goaltenders with minus 11.6 goals above expectations, according to MoneyPuck. Connor Hellebuyck, who was in the opposite crease for the Jets on Tuesday night, ranks No. 1 with 16.8 goals saved above expectations. Swayman’s disappointing and inconsistent play this season is a big reason why the Bruins have hovered around .500 for so long.
The most interesting post-game reaction to this devastating Bruins loss came from captain Brad Marchand, who didn’t sound too surprised by the outcome.
“This loss was coming. Our practices were sloppy,” Marchand told reporters after the game. “Our execution hasn’t been good there, and that spills over into games. The way you practice is how you play. That’s where it starts. We have to do a better job of being good at practice, and that will translate into competitions.”
This isn’t the first time Marchand has brought up the fact that the Bruins need to be better in practice.
Here’s what he said after the Bruins defeated the Utah Hockey Club in Sacco’s debut as interim head coach on Nov. 21:
“Practice habits are where you develop all your playing habits,” Marchand said after that game. “It’s such a cliché, but you practice how you play. If you practice poorly, you play poorly. If we compete in training and have a high tempo and are clear and detailed, playing straight to the net and chipping pucks, that adds to the game. It’s all momentum.
“You have a bad practice, that momentum carries over into the game as well. You want to see it in the game, but I want to see it more in practice every day. That’s where you build your consistency and your competition. You build it in practice, you show that in competitions.”
The Bruins enjoyed a soft schedule through the first nine games after the coaching change. Only one of those nine opponents was in the playoffs. The Bruins, who have the seventh-toughest remaining schedule, are about to face tougher opponents more often, especially on this road trip with every team in or close to a playoff spot in the Western Conference.
This loss should serve as a wake-up call for the Bruins. They are not a high-scoring team, meaning their margin for error is much smaller than in previous editions of this squad. Self-inflicted mistakes such as defensive failures, too many penalties and a lack of attention to detail will often result in losses like we saw in Winnipeg.
The best way to eliminate these mistakes is through better practice. Marchand is right: that’s where it all starts. And as team captain and a future Hall of Famer, he must take the lead in righting the ship during practice.
