WILMINGTON, Mass — The opening week of the 2015-16 NHL season has not been kind to the Boston Bruins.
With three games in the books, the Bruins rank last in the NHL in both goals allowed and goal differential, and have yet to crack the win column. Boston did benefit from Zdeno Chara’s return to the lineup Monday, but only after losing top-line winger Brad Marchand to a concussion two days earlier.
Monday’s 6-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lighting dropped the Bruins to 0-3-0 on the season — their worst start since the 1999-00 B’s went winless in their first nine games (five losses, four ties).
Amid all this doom and gloom, however, one of the longest-tenured Bruins sees reasons for optimism.
“There’s no quick fixes in this game,” Marchand said after Tuesday’s practice at Ristuccia Arena, “but I think we’ve shown good signs in the last two games. Even though we haven’t won yet, there’s a lot things we can that we can build off of, especially with (Chara) being back. Having him in the lineup, that’s big.
“I thought last game, we came out really strong, and we showed a lot of good signs. (The Lightning) are an opportunistic team. They played really well, and it doesn’t take a lot for them to score. I think we still have a lot to learn and a lot to build on, but I think we’re going to be a really good team. Just because of three games, it’s not going to tell our season, and we’re not worried.”
The Bruins now hit the road for dates with the Colorado Avalanche and Arizona Coyotes before returning home to host the Philadelphia Flyers. With games against New York Islanders, Montreal Canadiens and Lightning on the horizon, building some momentum on the brief two-game trip will be of high importance for this young B’s squad.
“You want to stay composed,” Marchand said. “This is three games in the year. There’s been a lot worse starts than this, and teams have had good seasons. We know we’re not in the best situation right now, but there’s a long season ahead of us. All we’ve got to do is work on the little things that make us better, and we will improve. We do have a lot of young guys and a lot of new guys; the only way for us to go is up right now. We’re confident in our team and our ability, and we’re going to be better.”
Marchand practiced Tuesday and will travel with the team after sitting out Monday’s game. It remains to be seen when he will be healthy enough to return to the lineup.
Thumbnail photo via Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports Images
