The Bruins are 4-6-1 through their first 11 games and suffered their worst loss of the season on Thursday night when they fell 8-2 to the Carolina Hurricanes.
Any sort of line combination coach Jim Montgomery has put together has come up short. David Pastrnak and Elias Lindholm have struggled to find chemistry early on, the offense isn’t putting many shots on net and Boston as a whole has played sloppy, uninspiring hockey.
It’s a complete 180 from the previous two seasons in which the Bruins were at or near the top of the Atlantic Division — and sometimes the NHL — standings.
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“Right now, we’re not happy. Nobody’s happy with what’s going on. But we will get out of it,” Montgomery told reporters in Raleigh after the game. “We will be better, and hopefully it creates a better result come playoff time.”
The Bruins have won one game in their last six and have lost two straight going into their Saturday matinee against the Philadelphia Flyers — a team they lost 2-0 to on Tuesday night. But Montgomery said in order for the team to get out of its rut, the players need to stick together.
“There’s no substitute for second and third effort,” he said.
The Bruins have looked lost and lifeless at times from top to bottom. They know they have to play better if they want to turn things around.
“I think kind of everyone needs to come together. With a team with a lot of individuals, including myself, aren’t doing well, and I think everybody just needs to worry about the team and be team-first,” Trent Frederic told reporters. “And not saying that’s the case, but the individual stuff will come and kind of all blend in together.”
Montgomery hasn’t given his line shuffles much time to marinate, but Frederic doesn’t believe the constant rearranging is to blame for the Bruins’ poor play. David Pastrnak is an agreement with his teammate.
“Monty’s just trying to get us going,” Pastrnak said. “The mixing lines, it happens. Personally, I have no problem with it. I can read off anybody. Right now it’s not about the combinations. We are not good enough as a team, and that’s where it starts.”
Next up for the Bruins is the Philadelphia Flyers — a team they lost to on Tuesday night.
