The Bruins were feeling very good about themselves just a week and a half ago. Today, with the archrival Montreal Canadiens in town for the final game before the Christmas break, they are in soul-searching mode. Such is life in the standings tighter than skinny jeans
Hoping to bank points on their five-game homestand, they are just 1-2-1, with three straight losses. And the last L left a mark.
It wasn’t that they just lost to the Ottawa Senators, it was how they lost. Not only were they not ready to compete off the hop, despite Marco Sturm’s staff’s advisement that the Sens tend to burst out of the gate, but the game also had Sturm questioning a trait that is supposed to be this club’s bread and butter – team toughness.
The B’s fell behind 3-0 in the first period and never recovered in the 6-2 loss. Both Tanner Jeannot and Mark Kastelic fought Ottawa’s tough guy, Kurtis MacDermid (MacDermid fell before the Jeannot fight got going while Kastelic took a decision from him in the third period) and Nikita Zadorov landed a few big hits on Ottawa’s captain Brady Tkachuk.
But the final minute left a bad taste in Sturm’s mouth. Zadorov had already been tossed out for reacting to Dylan Cozens kneeing him. Before a neutral zone faceoff with 1:01 left in the blowout, Tkachuk was yapping at David Pastrnak. When the puck was dropped, Nick Jensen tripped Pastrnak from behind and then Ridley Greig just started throwing punches at Pastrnak.
It was cheap and weasely. But when asked about it on Monday, he didn’t go after the Sens, which was understandable. With the season series over unless they play in the postseason (the record between the two teams suggest an Ottawa rump but, man, it would be interesting), there was really no point in aiming backwards. So Sturm turned inward.
“We had two guys, Jeannot and Kast, and they stood up for the team. And these guys, clearly you could see they were not afraid of us. And we can’t expect having just the same two guys doing the job over and over again,” said Sturm. “And it has nothing to do with fighting. It’s just playing hard and showing me a little bit, fight a little bit back. That’s hard. That was missing. It was a little bit disappointing. I was pissed off, too, because it’s a bad feeling.”
Pastrnak wasn’t happy with how the situation went down, but took the Hyman Roth “this is the business we’ve chosen” route.
“Honestly I was just frustrated. (Greig) punched me with the glove. I didn’t think it was necessary, so that made me angry,” said Pastrnak. “But it’s fine. It’s the game that we play. There’s a lot of emotions. Obviously losing is never fun. I wasn’t frustrated. I was more mad about the punch with the glove on. He was just holding me and I didn’t do anything and then he punched me out of nothing, so that just made me mad. But that’s hockey. It’s an emotional sport and this stuff happens every night. We see it around the league and that’s part of hockey and we all hope this part of hockey will never go away. That’s the beauty of our sport.”
Now it’s a question of how can the B’s use the debacle of Sunday night as fuel for Tuesday. No matter where the B’s and Habs are at in the standings, there is always a bit of an edge to the games. And they won’t have to manufacture any emotions in this one. After Sunday’s game, the B’s were in ninth place in the Eastern Conference with 41 points while the Habs were in second in the Atlantic Division with 43.
“We can feel the importance,” said Pastrnak. “You can call it the most important game we’ve had this year. It’s a big game for us and we need to bounce back ahead of the Christmas break. It’s Montreal Canadiens. It’s very easy to get motivated, especially the way the last couple of games went. It’s a must-win.”
Declaring games must-wins may be a bit hyperbolic at this stage of the season. The season is not over if they lose. But this one sure feels pivotal. On the horizon after the three-day break is a five-game roadie to Buffalo, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver and Seattle. The B’s are a mediocre 8-9 on the road. Sturm only took a half-step back from Pastrnak’s statement.
“It is important. Not sure if it’s the most important. For us, I even said it after the game (Sunday), it’s a one-game series for us. That’s how I look at it,” said Sturm. “There’s different reasons for we’re at as a team and as an organization, how we feel, how this current week went. We play Montreal. They’ve always been outstanding games. So there are a lot of different things to look at. But I focus on just on us. Where are we right now. (Sunday’s game) just trickled from the games past, probably starting a little bit in Minnesota and we have to get back to it. Playing at home has always been our strength and it got a little bit.”
As rough as he was on his team, he still believes in the competitive nature of his players and that loss to Ottawa, in all its ugliness, will benefit the team in the long run.
“I see it as a motivation. I think those games you can learn from. I almost feel sometimes embarrassed. And when I feel that way — hopefully the guys do, too — I get better,” said Sturm. “I’m already very excited about (Tuesday). Did I have a (expletive) night last night? Damn right, I did. But I’m already excited about (Tuesday’s game) because I know my guys, I know my players, I know my group. These guys care. There’s never been a doubt. These guys care. I know we’re going to get a response, not just for us but for this organization and for our fans.”…
Sturm said there’s a small chance Viktor Arvidsson could return on Tuesday but he made it clear that they were going to be cautious with him, feeling that he had come back from a related lower body injury a little too soon, thus re-injuring it.