Talk is cheap with this struggling B's team

There’s not much else to say about this raging hot mess that is the Boston Bruins right now.

At this point, nothing is going to change significantly until B’s management decides to act decisively and boldly with a hockey team that’s continuously underperforming at a very noticeable level. The Bruins dropped to 8-9-3 with a listless 5-1 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets at TD Garden on Monday night that featured a loud chorus of boos for the entire organization as the third period came to a whimpering close.

The B’s are still clinging to a wild-card playoff spot in the Eastern Conference despite three losses in a row, but the minus-21 goal differential is the worst mark in the Atlantic Division, second worst in the Eastern Conference and third worst in the NHL behind just the Pittsburgh Penguins and the lowly San Jose Sharks.

On a night when their 32nd-ranked power play unit allowed two shorthanded goals against the Blue Jackets, the Bruins showed another example of their terrible special teams play combined with a group that just keeps taking penalties. Boston’s best players said the right things before the game about elevating their work ethic and standard, and about finding a consistency level that has eluded them all year.

That’s not even close to what happened on the ice on Monday night.

“To have success in this league, special teams have to be really good,” said Bruins captain Brad Marchand. “Power play has to come through in the big moments. We just haven’t done that at all. Every one of us needs to be much better out there.

“We have to be excited about the opportunity. It’s a privilege to be on the power play. It’s not a given, right? We need to be much better. We need to be way better than what we’ve been. Accountability hasn’t been there in that area. There’s no excuse. We’ve got to be better.”

The Bruins went out and dug themselves a 3-0 hole on home ice and proceeded to once again get shut down in the third period at TD Garden. The Bruins have now scored just one goal on home ice in the third period this entire season and have been outscored by a 10-1 margin in those third periods at home.

That’s just dreadful hockey to play, and even worse for fans to watch who are paying top dollar for tickets.

"Definitely not happy with the way things are going,” admitted Marchand, once again being accountable in defeat after another performance well below their normal standard. “We need to be much better in a lot of areas. It's not acceptable to continue to have the same mistakes and do the same things over and over."

That’s where a coaching change should really enter the conversation for the Black and Gold, regardless of what’s happening with the roster. 

The Bruins continuously repeat the same mistakes just about every night while finding ways to not even be competitive in far too many games, and there are far too many passengers every single game. 

In Monday night’s loss, David Pastrnak couldn’t register a single shot on net in 18 plus minutes of ice time and was one of six Bruins players who finished without a shot on net. In just about every single recent B’s game there have been 6-10 Bruins players without shots on net, and that is far too many players not pulling their end of the rope on a team that should be far better than they are. 

That kind of massive underperformance, especially by the roster’s best players, is a reflection of a coach unable to coax impactful games out of that talent. Jim Montgomery is doing his best to project a resilient, positive attitude, but it has felt like the Bruins bench boss has been out of answers with this group for some time. 

“Everyone goes through struggles. Whether [in your life] or your team,” said Montgomery after another soul-crushing defeat on home ice. “That’s what life is about. How do you pick yourself up? It’s not how hard you fall. It’s how quickly you pick yourself up.”

It’s admirable that Montgomery continues to push forward even as Bruins management placed him in this situation as a lame duck head coach in the final year of his contract. Clearly the B’s decision-makers had their own questions about Montgomery, probably more about his playoff performance rather than the regular season, and those reservations were warranted based on the way things have deteriorated in this season’s first few months. 

None of this even begins to address Jeremy Swayman, either, as the Bruins goaltender has predictably struggled behind a porous defense after holding out for all of training camp for a super-sized $66 million contract. The 26-year-old said he’s beyond any difficulty acclimating after missing all of his team’s preseason, but the simple fact is that training camp is still very important for a still-young goalie to get ready for the season. 

And there was expected to be struggles for Swayman this season dealing with the pressures of being a lone No. 1 goalie that’s now being paid big money. With big money comes elevated expectations, and Swayman isn’t close to meeting them with a 5-7-2 record, a 3.75 GAA and a grotesque .884 save percentage. 

“I think I’ve had enough time now to adapt and get back to things,” said Swayman, who has been outperformed by Joonas Korpisalo this season. “I think the biggest thing that I lost out on was this group. I’m really trying to engulf just being in the room again and being a leader. I want my play to speak for that. I need to step up. That’s exactly what I’m going to do.”

Talk is pretty cheap at this point when it comes to the soft, underwhelming product the Bruins have tossed on the ice this season. Don Sweeney has made moves with the smaller pieces shipping guys like Riley Tufte, Max Jones and Matt Poitras to Providence, and even bringing up Jeffrey Viel to create an emotional spark with a fight early in Monday night’s tilt against Columbus.