So much for the Bruins gaining traction from their big win over the Colorado Avalanche.
After the B’s had snapped their six-game losing streak on Saturday, they responded with one of their sloppiest performances of the season on Monday, losing to the Ottawa Senators, 7-2, at the Canadian Tire Centre. It was a loss that was far too reminiscent of so many defeats from the disastrous 2024-25 season.
Poor defensive zone coverage, slapdash breakouts, all-thumbs execution on the puck, and an increasingly vacant effort led to the B’s seventh loss in eighth games and evaporated any good feeling earned by their win over the Avs.
“You either buy in or not,” a frustrated coach Marco Sturm told NESN after the game. “That’s it right there. That’s the difference. If you just look at the Ottawa team today, they do it and we’re not. And that’s the game.”
Drake Batherson and Tim Stutzle each scored twice and the Sens scored four power-play goals on five tries for a too-easy divisional win. The penalty kill has been one of the B’s strong suits this season but even that was not working on Monday.
“I think it finally caught up to us a little bit. We can’t take five penalties every night,” said Sturm.
The Bruins were most definitely not the “hard-to-play-against” product that was promised in the preseason. Morgan Geekie has been one of the most vocal and articulate Bruins early this season as they grapple with their various issues, but even he was having a hard time expressing his thoughts after this one.
“It can’t get much worse, really,” said Geekie. “I just know how hard this group works and how hard everyone wants it and to show up like that…we put them on the power play five times and they score four of them, it’s like shooting yourself in the foot. It’s been like that all year. But 5-on-5, we don’t really create a ton. We’re a little better defensively but we’re still giving up lapses. I don’t know. I wish I could tell you more, but I don’t know. It’s tough today.”
The game didn’t start too unlike Saturday’s game against Colorado. While the Sens didn’t quite dominate the B’s early, they forced turnover after turnover on failed breakouts by the B’s.
But it was the B’s who took advantage of bad puck management from the Sens to take the first lead of the game. After Sean Kuraly dumped the puck in deep, Mark Kastelic pressured the Ottawa D and Geekie picked off a bump pass at the blue line. On his off wing, Geekie ripped a wrister over through a flash screen and goalie Leevi Merilainen’s glove arm at 3:06 for his seventh of the year and fifth in the last four games.
That was it for Bruin highlights until a meaningless Viktor Arvidsson goal with 9.7 seconds left.
The Sens got it back on a power play after Mikey Eyssimont was called for high-sticking following another failed breakout. The B’s had killed off most of the infraction but dinged with 15 seconds left on kill. Off the rush, Ridley Greig’s shot from the left wing was stopped by Jeremy Swayman but could not be squeezed and Drake Batherson was at the doorstep for the rebound goal at 10:25.
Ottawa held a 10-9 shots-on-goal advantage but possessed a stronger edge in territorial play, as evidenced by the Sens’ 25-16 total shots advantage in the first.
They would cash in on the edge in play with a two-goal second period that changed the complexion of the game.
The Sens took the at 1:08 of the second on what looked like a nothing play. The Bruins had numbers back for an Ottawa rush, but Henri Jokiharju could not prevent Michael Amadio’s pass from getting into the slot and Elias Lindholm could not eliminate Claude Giroux, who was able to deflect it past Swayman.
The B’s started to spend a little more time in the offensive zone. They actually held a 10-4 shot advantage. But they could not sustain any real pressure, with all the shots being one-and-dones.
And then, at 14:44, the Sens scored a crushing goal. The B’s outnumbered Fabian Zetterlund 4-on-1 but with Mason Lohrei and Charlie McAvoy unable to control the puck and forwards Marat Khusnutdinov down low as well, Zetterlund backhanded a pass into the wide-open slot to Batherson and he picked his spot for his second of the game.
The third period could not have started worse for the B’s. The defense pairs were changed with Nikita Zadorov going back McAvoy, a tandem that has played the Colorado game but was broken up for Monday’s contest. But off the opening faceoff, Zadorov was called for tripping just eight seconds into the period. And then, just five seconds later, Tim Stutzle whistled a wrist shot past Swayman for a 4-1 Ottawa lead.
“I felt like after the second we could have come back and then I go out there and take that penalty and kill all the momentum, so that’s definitely on me,” said Zadorov. “I feel like I do that 10 times a game and never trip the guy, but my stick got stuck between his legs. I’ve got to watch the stick.”
That opened the floodgates.
Stutzle at 9:33 and Zetterlund scored PP goals, with McAvoy in the box both times, and Nick Cousins added another one. And, this time, there would be no emotional comeback attempt to provide a misleading sense of optimism for where and what this team is.
The B’s have a chance to soften the blow with a better showing when they host the Islanders at the Garden on Tuesday. But it’s hard not to have grave concerns about this team after this one.
