BOSTON — The fans were mad. The Boston players were embarrassed and the Bruins moved further from a playoff spot and closer to the end of a rough season.
In the pothole-marked road to this point in the season, there have been many candidates for the worst game of the season, but Saturday’s 6-2 loss to Tampa was in contention for the Bruins.
It would be hard to argue that any single period was worse than Saturday’s middle frame when the Bruins were outshot 21-0 while allowing three goals.
“The second was embarrassing. The compete level was nowhere to be found,” said Elias Lindholm, who scored one of the Bruins’ two goals. “Unacceptable overall there. It’s frustrating to be sure.”
The Bruins were booed aggressively as they left the ice after the second and third.
“You always want to lay hard at home. The fans deserve it. They pay a lot of money to come here and watch us play. They have every right to do that,” Lindholm said. “In the second, we deserved to get booed. That was the worst I’ve seen us play this year.”
Pavel Zacha agreed.
“It is really frustrating, especially not having a shot on goal in the entire period. We can’t play like that. It’s embarrassing. We just have to be way better,” he said. “We deserved it. When you play like that and don’t even have a shot on goal. It doesn’t feel good. But we all knew when we came back that we deserved it.”
Lindholm said it’s especially frustrating because the Bruins played well at Tampa and at home against Florida after the trade deadline.
“In the first two games, we were hunting pucks. Lots of energy. Hard to play against. Nowhere close to those two games,” he said. “Our compete level is not where it’s supposed to be. Obviously, it’s frustrating at this time of year. The least we can do is work hard and have a good effort. We have to figure it out for Monday.”
Jeremy Swayman said the older guys need to lead the new Bruins to more consistent efforts.
“It’s been my job and all these other guys’ job who have been here to continue the standard that’s built here,” he said. “We’re not going to let it slip on our watch.”
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