Boston has lost four straight games, including a 5-4 loss in overtime to the Islanders on Sunday.
The Boston Bruins have lost four straight games, incluing a 5-4 overtime loss to the New York Islanders on Sunday. All four of those games were winnable.
“Four should be enough on any night for us to win,” Justin Brazeau said Sunday.
After a slow start to the season, the Bruins need all the points they can get in the second half of 2024-25. And while they earned a point Sunday, they knows wins are crucial.
“I mean, it’s a good consolation prize … but (Joonas Korpisalo) bailed us out,” Boston’s Morgan Geekie said. “We’ve got some things we gotta clean up. … It’s getting old, but it’s nice to grab a point, for sure.”
The Bruins came back thanks to two goals from David Pastrnak in the third period to tie the game. He nearly won it in overtime, but Ilya Sorokin stopped the star forward on the doorstep.
Boston’s defense still struggled throughout the game. The Bruins allowed the Islanders to score on the penalty kill and to score two goals in 21 seconds. Interim coach Joe Sacco admitted the team wasn’t sharp against New York, but saw how his team worked hard to stay in the game.
“We don’t want to make excuses, right? We weren’t sharp. You can say it was the back-to-back, the three-in-four, but this is the league,” Sacco said. “This is what you’re dealt with at times and that’s where you have to dig in. You’ve got to grind it out some nights and that’s what we did tonight. We grinded it out.”
The Bruins have a tough stretch of games coming up that includes the Edmonton Oilers, Tampa Lightning and Florida Panthers. Their defense will need to be sharp and their offense will need to continue to find ways to score if they want to remain in the playoff race.
PASTRNAK HAS FOUR goals in his last two games and his 17 lead the team. While he’s happy to have found a scoring groove, he’d like it more if the goals accompanied wins.
“It’s always nice to score goals. You don’t take it for granted in this league. But definitely it would feel better if we ended up with the W,” Pastrnak said. “So it’s mixed emotions. Just want to get on a winning streak. We have a good team coming in (on Tuesday against the Edmonton Oilers).”
Sacco is hopeful it will lead to Pastrnak regaining his confidence.
“It was a good weekend for him. Back-to-back multiple-goal games. He’s a guy who wants to produce for the team,” Sacco said. “I thought he did that really well tonight, especially the way he played his overall game. He was pretty solid, he logged a lot of minutes.”
Pastrnak is two seasons removed from a career-high 61 goals and is coming off a 47-goal performance last season. While his numbers aren’t quite where they’ve been in past years, Pastrnak still leads the Bruins with 17 goals and is able to impact the game even if he’s not scoring.
“Maybe luck wasn’t on his side for a while. But I think the chances have been there for him,” said Geekie, who’s been playing on a line with Pastrnak throughout the season. “The numbers maybe aren’t what they have been in the past. But we see the things he does on the ice and everything he brings away from the puck as well. It’s nice to see a couple go in for sure, especially the way that he can change the game like he did tonight.”
