The Bruins didn’t need a long film session to understand what went wrong Thursday night. Marco Sturm made sure of that.
After Boston’s 5-2 home loss to the Montreal Canadiens at TD Garden, Sturm kept Friday’s work centered on video, using the session to hammer home exactly how the game slipped away. The defeat was the Bruins’ second on home ice this season, and both losses have come against division opponents, with the other a 4-1 setback to the Ottawa Senators last month.
“I think our practice today was video. We touched on a few things, areas we have to get better, but in general, the message today was by video,” Sturm said, per BostonBruins.com. “Just wanted to make it very clear to the guys how the game went yesterday and how we have to get better.”
The message was easy to read: the Bruins have to clean up just about everything. The start needs to be better.
The puck management needs to be sharper. The structure in all three zones has to tighten up.
Montreal spent 60 minutes looking like the better team, and not just because of the final score. The Canadiens also got the stronger goaltending, with key stops at key moments, while Jeremy Swayman had a night where things didn’t go his way. He couldn’t get to the angles he usually does, and he didn’t cover the puck quickly enough before Josh Anderson poked it in.
Later, in the second period, Swayman was beaten on a Jake Evans breakaway when he left the five-hole open, a rare miss for him.
Saturday night brings another chance to reset, but the opponent won’t make that easy. The Minnesota Wild come to Boston after already beating the Bruins last month, and if the Bruins don’t sharpen up fast, another rough night could be waiting.
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