{"id":538691,"date":"2026-04-03T16:10:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T16:10:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/538691\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T16:10:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T16:10:13","slug":"bruins-showing-penchant-for-overlooking-nhl-pushovers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/538691\/","title":{"rendered":"Bruins showing penchant for overlooking NHL pushovers"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was pretty telling when Marco Sturm recently spoke of his hockey team\u2019s tendency to play up, or down, to their competition as a very real trait for this season\u2019s edition of the Black and Gold.<\/p>\n

Sturm was speaking about the Bruins rising to the occasion against a host of quality, playoff-level teams in a tough schedule ahead of the postseason, but the danger of taking lesser teams for granted remains a part of this B\u2019s team identity as well.<\/p>\n

It certainly held true in some big games with playoff implications against the Wild, the Blue Jackets and the Red Wings recently, but it\u2019s also led to a couple of embarrassing blemish-type losses to Toronto and Florida teams just playing out the string this month. The latest letdown \u201ceffort\u201d was Thursday night\u2019s 2-1 loss to an injury-ravaged Panthers team at Amerant Bank Arena where essentially the B\u2019s didn\u2019t start putting in a winning level of effort and urgency until the third period.<\/p>\n

At that point, Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky\u00a0put it in lockdown mode with 15 saves over the final 20 minutes while protecting a one-goal lead and preventing the Bruins from salvaging a point in a game where they coasted for the opening 40 minutes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t respect our opponent,\u201d lamented Marco Sturm\u00a0to NESN\u2019s Andy Brickley\u00a0after the game was over. \u201cThat\u2019s the bottom line. We saw a lot of guys out [with injuries], and we didn\u2019t respect the [reigning] Stanley Cup champions. That was it\u2026that was the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just didn\u2019t do our job, so shame on us today. They played the hard way, and we just weren\u2019t willing to do it. We were stubborn between the blue lines, where we didn\u2019t try to put it in [deep], and we played on the outside. Everything that we did was pretty much for nothing. We just weren\u2019t willing to go with the hard area. A lot of guys didn\u2019t play to their potential today, unfortunately.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marco Sturm after tonight’s loss to the Panthers<\/p>\n

“We saw a lot of guys out, and we didn’t respect the [reigning] Stanley Cup champions.” \ud83d\ude33 pic.twitter.com\/xKOuaN0T47<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 NESN (@NESN) April 3, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Two players that didn\u2019t really need to hang their heads afterward were Jeremy Swayman, who kept the Bruins in the game with save after save against Grade-A chances for the Panthers in the second period (12 saves for Swayman in the second period and a 22-save effort overall) as Florida looked to open up some breathing room on their narrow lead, and Fraser Minten as the only goal scorer for the Black and Gold while tallying one at the end of the first period.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a little more desperation [in the third period],\u201d said Minten. \u201cThis was kind of a sleepy one from us. We just have to kind of find a way to ramp up for the whole game [like the team did in the third period].\u201d<\/p>\n

Aside from that, it was too little, too late as a scuffling Morgan Geekie had a handful of scoring chances that he couldn\u2019t cash in on the third period during Boston\u2019s 15-shot barrage. Geekie now has zero goals in his last 15 games, dating back to the beginning of March, and has shown a streak propensity this season that has him in a major cold stretch at the most important time of year.<\/p>\n

Sturm was trying to spark anything by reuniting David Pastrnak\u00a0with Geekie and Elias Lindholm toward the end of the game, and it did result in elevated scoring chances for all three forwards. But in the end, it resulted in just one five-on-five goal scored in a disengaged game where there weren\u2019t a lot of penalties, special teams play, or much urgency with the Bruins looking at an over 95 percent chance of securing a playoff spot in the season\u2019s final weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just trying to score\u2026just trying to beat him,\u201d said a visibly frustrated Geekie after it was all over in a game where he had a massive 10 shot attempts and a handful of quality scoring chances. \u00a0\u201cIt feels like tonight you let everybody down. You had your opportunities and it\u2019s just tough. It\u2019s been a tough stretch and it\u2019s one of those things where you just try to man up and gut through it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt does help when are winning games, but tonight it stings a little more. It felt like we weren\u2019t sustaining anything and tried to get something going. We had opportunities later in the game, but you\u2019ve just got to capitalize on a few of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Certainly, the B\u2019s penchant for playing down to opponents is a concern on some level, but they<\/p>\n