Until the Bruins can consistently string together quality wins against good teams, it’s hard to see them as anything more than a fringe playoff team who doesn’t appear equipped to make it out of the first round.
If they can even get there.
“We didn’t play winning hockey for whatever reason, there was a breakdown in the structure all over the ice,” head coach Bruce Cassidy said following Friday’s 5-2 loss to the New York Rangers.
“Usually when there’s a structure issue, we look at ourselves and wonder why we don’t get the message across.
For two periods it was one entertaining hockey game with the two teams exchanging goals, leading to a 2-2 draw after 40 minutes of play.
But the Bruins got sloppy in the third, had too many breakdowns and gave the Rangers too many opportunities, most of which they cashed in on.
“A game that I felt that was back and forth for the most part. We had the edge in the first, they did in the second,” Cassidy said. “You got yourself a good hockey game. We kind of pissed it away [in the third] to be honest with you, a chance to win.”
Friday was the Bruins 17th game of the season. Yes, a lot of hockey left to go. But with each passing game, it’s becoming more clear who and what this Bruins team really is: a mediocre hockey team.
The Bruins however, see something different.
Cassidy alluded to it following Sunday’s loss to the Flames and this time Friday, it was Brad Marchand referring to it.
In reference to the team not panicking about the start to day, there's been much citing of the new faces in the Bruins dressing room.
Sure, players like Nick Foligno and Erik Haula may not have found their footing just yet, but it sounds as if the Bruins are using it as an excuse more so than a reason as to why they’re not concerned with their start so far.
"It's not a concern at all. It's early in the year, we have a lot of new faces in our group. “It's a different year for us, a lot different than what we've had in a long time, where we have to build something again. Whereas before, we had such little turnover,” said Marchand.
"Whoever came in just kind of fit into the group, but everything was already established. Now with the new guys that we have, it's hard to learn a new team and learn new systems and build that chemistry again, and that's what we have to do.”
The Bruins are 1-6 against teams currently holding onto a playoff spot. December is right around the corner and contending teams are starting to emerge if they haven’t yet.
But instead of winning hockey games against quality opponents, the Bruins will tell you they know they’re going to be okay because they have new faces in the lineup and just need to figure out how to play with those faces.
“The D has to build their chemistry with the goalie. All of the forwards have to build their chemistry with their line and again, the defensemen breaking out plays. So there's a lot of stuff we need to work on. I don't think we expected to come in and dominate from the start of the year,” Marchand said
“We know it would be a process to get our game to where it needs to be, but we're not concerned about Game 17 or 18. We want to be playing our best down the stretch and that's what we're going to go for.”
Yes, absolutely, playing your best hockey down the stretch is very important and ultimately what every single one of the NHL’s 32 teams strive for.
But what happens when you don’t play well enough to start the season, leading up to the stretch run to the point where what happens in the stretch run doesn’t matter much?
“It's like building a house,” Marchand said. “You got to fill in the foundation and that's what we're gonna continue to work on and go from there."
You better hurry Brad, because there’s one too many cracks in the foundation.
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