“Asking them to do that each and every night is unfair.”
The Bruins still are among the best teams in the NHL despite their three-game losing run headed into Thursday thanks in large part to their goaltending.
Boston handed up 17 goals throughout its three-game losing skid, and while Jim Montgomery made a goalie change during Monday’s loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets, the defense largely is to blame for the goals given.
This week’s practice focused primarily on rush defense and checking since the Bruins are aware that Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark cannot play hero roles every night.
According to team-provided footage, McAvoy told reporters, “I thought there were times when we were winning — and we were winning like every game — but there were pockets where we weren’t really putting together a full 60.” “We’re sacrificing far more than we ought to. Again and again, our goalies were coming through for us. You’re reviewing a few saves from the game where we lose and fail to receive a point since they weren’t there for us.
“Asking them to do it each and every night is unfair. We must improve as a team. It was a nice day on Wednesday. Our goal was to focus solely on competing, making it our D zone and mentality. We have the opportunity to put it into practice on Thursday by just paying attention to the details and succeeding. All we need to do is construct the game. We’ll be fine if we play the simple brand and build it correctly.
Swayman will start on Thursday night against the San Jose Sharks, and he’ll be fired up to lead Boston back to victory.
