Bruins’ inconsistency is the latest mistake costing them valuable points originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Tuesday’s thrilling comeback win over the St. Louis Blues should have been a game-changer for the Boston Bruins.
They had turned what looked like another crushing defeat into perhaps their best win of the season by erasing a 2-0 deficit in the third period, helped by several struggling players who made meaningful contributions, including Davd Pastrnak who ended ended a seven-game winning drought. count.
And then Thursday night happened in Dallas.
All the momentum the Bruins had built from their win against the Blues was quickly cut short with another awful loss to the Stars. The Stars led 2-0 at one point in the first period, but then increased their lead to 5-1 entering the third period before ultimately winning 7-2.
“We lost every battle. Soft on the puck. Soft everywhere. We didn’t complete the checks. We were embarrassed today,” Bruins defenseman Nikita Zadorov told reporters after the game.
There are a lot of issues with this Bruins team right now. A lack of 5-on-5 scoring, too many penalties, an ineffective power play, top players not producing, poor third periods and Jeremy Swayman not playing like a No. 1 goalie top the list.
But another major problem is the lack of consistency.
Just when you think this team might have turned a corner with an impressive win, the B’s are unable to build on it and establish any kind of consistency. The Bruins have a 2-4-2 record after a win this season.
They haven’t had a win streak longer than two games. Last season they had two on November 15, including a six-match winning streak to start the campaign. The Bruins’ longest point streak this year is just three games.
“It’s been frustrating all year that we haven’t been able to have three or four consistent games where we feel like our habits and details are consistently there,” Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery told reporters after the game on Thursday.
These types of “one step forward, two steps back” results could make it challenging for the Bruins to make the playoffs. The Bruins now have a record of 8-8-2 and rank 10th in the Eastern Conference in points percentage.
One way the Bruins can get back on track is by getting Swayman to play much better. He scored a career-high seven goals in Thursday’s loss to the Stars. On the season, Swayman has a record of 5-6-2 with a save percentage of .888 and a GAA of 3.35. His minus-4.6 goals saved above expectations ranks 65th out of 74 qualifying goaltenders, according to MoneyPuck.
To be clear, Swayman isn’t getting much help from the team in front of him. Some evenings he even gets almost no help. He’s not the No. 1 or No. 2 reason why this team has been so average through eighteen games.
But given the Bruins’ offensive woes — 27th in goals per game, 32nd in power play percentage — they need him to steal a few games, which he is perfectly capable of and has done many times in his career .
One positive for the Bruins is their upcoming schedule. They have struggled against good teams this season, posting a 4-6-2 record against opponents currently in the playoffs. They won’t face many of these teams in the coming weeks. Nine of their next eleven games are against teams outside of a playoff spot. Eight of those eleven matchups will take place at TD Garden.
If the Bruins can’t string together a few straight wins against bad teams, especially with most of these upcoming home games, that would tell us a lot about this group and its chances of making something in the spring.
