Time running out for Bruins as they head west to meet Sharks

The Boston Bruins have no choice.

After losing a 5-1 laugher Thursday night at the Vegas Golden Knights, interim coach Joe Sacco's team has to find its game fast.

"Regroup. Quickly regroup," Sacco said after his team opened a five-game road trip that runs through the end of March. "We will correct some things like we always do, and then we have to shift our focus right away. We can't let this one linger too long."

That is because the Bruins are now five points below the Eastern Conference wild-card cut line. They will try to make a dent in that deficit in a Saturday night bout with the San Jose Sharks, who have a league-low 18 wins on the season and five losses in their last six games.

Vegas goaltender Adin Hill helped frustrate the Bruins, who logged 20 or fewer shots for the third straight time during a four-game losing streak (0-3-1) on Thursday. In all of those games, Boston has gone scoreless on the power play, drawing just five.

"Frustration can't set in. That's not good," Sacco said. "We need to just keep digging in and working hard and make sure that we're playing to the end."

Morgan Geekie scored the Bruins' lone goal to break what was a 5-0 shutout in Vegas. It was his 24th of the season, extending a career-high mark.

All the way around, though, he knows that more pucks have to start going in the net.

The B's have scored more than three goals just twice in their last 16 games. That is not a lot of run support for goaltender Jeremy Swayman, who has lost three starts in a row.

"It's frustrating when you don't put (good looks) away," Geekie said. "Maybe it's a different game if those go in and maybe it changes the outcome, but I wouldn't say that's what did us in (Thursday) by any means."

The Sharks have lost four of five to begin an eight-game homestand, taking their latest defeat 3-1 Thursday against the streaking Carolina Hurricanes.

It was a rare night as San Jose's lineup featured two first-timers in defenseman Luca Cagnoni (NHL debut) and goaltender Georgi Romanov (first NHL start).

"Luca, the game started slowing down for him in the second and third period. Georgi, I thought, was solid," San Jose coach Ryan Warsofsky said.

Romanov made 26 saves with Yaroslav Askarov (lower-body injury) out. He had made three previous relief appearances over the past two seasons.

"Consistency from the goaltending position is probably the most important thing that you have on a team, and that's something every team is striving for," Warsofsky said.

Mike Millbury puts Don Sweeney on blast about what the Bruins need this summer

Millbury joined the Greg Hill Show on WEEI Thursday and talked about the Boston roster and what it is and what they need going forward, whether talent is added through free agency or if Sweeney needs to get creative in a trade.

"They have role players and they have some guys that can be effective in the bottom-six of the lineup,'' Millbury said. "(Morgan) Geekie looks like he's having a heck of a year. (He) looks like he could be a top-six forward along with (David Pastrnak), but there's a void in the high-end talent and talent positions. That's where you need to fill that void in order to become competitive. You can't go with role players and you need guys that are game changers and they don't have enough.''

Well, that last part is certainly an understatement. Not enough game-changers? That could have been filled by guys lost in free agency like Jake DeBrusk or targeting another forward other than Lindholm. Zadorov has played better lately, but his parade to the penalty box has been frustrating.

If Sweeney is going to add through free agency, then he's going to have to find better players than he did last year. He usually has some luck in free agency, but that wasn't the case last July. This summer he can't afford to sign more "role" players if that ends up being the case, well you're looking at another season next year like this one and it won't sit well with the core players that he plans on building around. This retool needs to be fast and not dragged out over multiple years.

This was the case before the trade deadline, the Bruins didn't have enough game-changers. Sweeney didn't trade one and they still have the same problem with the roster makeup.