Bruins left searching for answers after offense bottoms out against Flyers
"Whether that's a will to go to those areas or not the right game plan — we're all culpable for not coming out with a victory tonight.”
Jim Montgomery might have said it best as he fielded questions on Tuesday night.
After yet another night in which Boston’s already laboring offense dried up against a porous Philadelphia defense, the Bruins’ bench boss was at a loss.
“I don’t know,” Montgomery declared when asked if the Bruins’ skaters are overthinking things in the offensive zone. “It’s just, we’re not making plays. We’re not doing enough to generate high-danger scoring chances.
“Whether that’s a will to go to those areas or not the right game plan. We’re all culpable for not coming out with a victory tonight.”
In a season where Boston’s inability to put the puck in the net has snuffed out any hope of another strong start, Tuesday’s 2-0 loss to the Flyers represented a new low.
Despite Montgomery’s repeated pleas for stronger puck pressure and urgency, the Bruins once again spent significant stretches of Tuesday’s game sleepwalking in the offensive zone.
Trailing 1-0 entering the final period of play, the Bruins landed just three shots on goal in the third period, losing to a Flyers squad that entered with a 2-6-1 record. Boston currently sits at 26th in the NHL in offense with just 2.70 goals scored per game.
“It’s a multitude of things,” Montgomery said of Boston’s struggles in the offensive zone. “It seems like some guys are still fighting it, as far as their confidence and their ability to just be smooth with the puck on the ice.”
Once a foundational strength of Boston’s offense, the Bruins’ power play has eroded significantly in 2024-25.
Not only are the Bruins struggling to cash in on their opportunities (14.3 percent, 26th in the NHL), they’re not even putting pucks on net while up an extra skater.
The Bruins were granted four bids on the power play during Tuesday’s loss, including a 5-on-3 sequence in the opening period that lasted 1:37. Boston finished with just two total shots on goal on the power play, including zero during the standard 5-on-4 reps on the man advantage.
Be it players gripping their sticks or a lack of a shot-first mentality, the Bruins are doing little to make opposing PK’s pay over these last few weeks.
“That’s normal when you’re struggling offensively, you kind of hold that stick,” Hampus Lindholm said. “Usually when you’re on a hot streak, you just take that puck and you snap it right away. You don’t really think. This game comes much easier when you’re just playing with your intuition out there.”
At this point, it remains to be seen what exactly Montgomery and his staff can do as far as augmenting Boston’s underwhelming forward corps.
A tweak to the top power-play unit could send a message, especially with Charlie McAvoy failing to add much urgency as the team’s playmaker along the blue line.
Switching to a left-shot D like Lindholm or even a rookie like Mason Lohrei could add a bit more pace to that unit, especially when it comes to feeding clean pucks over to David Pastrnak for quality scoring chances.
“Quicker puck movement,” Montgomery said of the cure for Boston’s ailing power play. “If you move the puck quick enough, and you’re thinking shot first, they’re not going to be in shot lanes. They’re one less player, especially five on three, they’re two less players.”
But the Bruins are limited at this point in terms of just what they can do with the personnel in place. Montgomery has already tried just about every conceivable lineup combination during 5-on-5 action over Boston’s first 10 games.
It’s going to fall on the players themselves to generate more offense on the ice — or a more seismic change spurred by management.
“No one’s gonna hand it to you for free in this league,” Lindholm said. “You’re gonna have to work for it and you start it right by winning your battle, and go from there and take the puck to the net instead of trying to get that tap-in, because that doesn’t happen this league.
“You’re gonna have to work for it and get that mindset for everyone in here and do it as a team.”
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com