After beginning their season with three straight wins, the Bruins have not only squandered the good start, but have essentially doubled down on the squandering of that hot start by way of six straight defeats.

But perhaps most notably, for the second straight game, Bruins head coach Marco Sturm seemed to make a passing comment alluding to not every member of the team pulling on the rope and buying in to what he’s selling.

“I can tell you this: Guys are working extremely hard. Most of the guys,” Sturm said following a 7-5 loss to the Ducks. “We’re just not smart right now. And some guys also have to pick it up, so there’s a little bit of a combination.” 

Sturm’s ‘most of the guys’ comment comes just two days after Sturm indicated that not all of his players were ‘on the bus’ just yet and that it was his job to get them there. The language is coded, and could mean a number of things at the end of the day, but it does feel like Sturm is not getting the complete buy in he needs for the Bruins to make up for what they lack compared to their peers.

But when comments like that come two postgame conferences in a row, and with the Bruins failing to make any sort of performance-related roster moves through nine games, it’s worth a follow up or two. If players currently here and part of the mix aren’t buying in, how much longer do the Bruins want to wait for those players to buy in before making more drastic changes, I asked Sturm.

“It’s hard to do changes. That’s the thing, right?” Sturm said. “First of all, it’s early in the year. There’s a roster limit we have, I have. Not too many changes will be made. You can tweak a few things, but that’s about it. So, I’m confident enough that these are the guys we gotta and must [use] to get out of it.”

Nine games in, perhaps patience is the name of the game for Sturm and the Bruins. But it also sounds like Sturm made it clear: There is no cavalry coming over the hill to save the Bruins. And this may very well be the team.

“I don’t think too many changes can be made. Let’s be honest, right?” Sturm reinforced. “So, the guys in here, including me, the guys in this room, we have to fix it. We can’t control anything else.”

Now, to counter Sturm’s point, the Bruins do have some players currently thriving in Providence. Namely forwards Matej Blumel, Fabian Lysell, Georgii Merkulov, and Matt Poitras. All four would present the Bruins with some more offensive upside in their middle-six forward grouping, and have certainly outperformed (with the minutes they’re being given in their role in the minors) some of those players currently getting minutes in their current NHL role.

But goals have not been an issue for the Bruins over the course of this losing streak, though, as the Bruins begin Friday with the third-most goals (29) in the NHL and the 12th-most goals per game (3.22). Sturm and the Bruins could certainly add some more natural scoring pop to their forward grouping, but that hasn’t been the major issue for the B’s right now, so even those tweaks might not be as dire as they will almost certainly become down the road this season.

It’s the defensive structure and the hot-and-cold goaltending that’s been frustrating Sturm and the Bruins out of winnable games. And to his point, there’s really not much he can do to make sweeping changes there.

Yes, the Bruins could get Hampus Lindholm back, and that could change things. It would stabilize things slightly, at the very least. But Lindholm has remained a game-time decision for weeks now, and the Bruins’ best bets at replacing him in the lineup, to this point, have come with Jordan Harris and Michael Callahan summoned into action. Beyond them, other minor-league options currently at the Bruins’ disposal include Jonathan Aspirot, Frederic Brunet, and Billy Sweezey.

Barring a trade — and there’s no reason for the Bruins to think they’re a trade away from fixing what’s ailing them right now, nor should a potentially desperate Don Sweeney enter that market right now — this is what Sturm has to work with.

On Friday, his best chance at an immediate change came with his decision to split up Mason Lohrei and Charlie McAvoy (a pairing that simply hasn’t worked for the club this season) for practice ahead of Saturday’s game with Colorado.

But for the Bruins, it’s going to come back down to pride and willingness in the defensive zone, and with the players in the room for six straight losses.

“It’s Boston Bruins hockey: You have to go out and wear this jersey with pride,” Bruins defenseman Nikita Zadorov, who has without question been the B’s best defenseman this season, said. “[On] Saturday, why not? We’re playing the best team in the league. They’re coming here, it’s a Saturday afternoon game, a lot of people will be watching this game. So, why not?