BOSTON -- The Bruins had an opportunity to secure the NHL's Presidents' Trophy with a win over the Nashville Predators on Tuesday.
Instead, they "laid an egg" in the words of head coach Jim Montgomery and suffered their first loss in two weeks. Why? Boston's leaders seemed to come to a consensus opinion.
"We obviously took them lightly," Brad Marchand said postgame. "We seem to get up for the games, the teams that we could potentially face here down the road. I just think we were a little disrespectful to the game tonight."
The Bruins came out of the gates at a snail's pace. Though it seemed everyone on the ice did as well, referees included, that led to a first forty minutes where offensive zone chances came few and far between.
"I think we didn't play to our standard," Patrice Bergeron said postgame. "We didn't play to our process and our details, and when you do that, that's the result you're going to get. It doesn't matter how good you are, you have to respect how you want to play the game. Tonight was one of those night's where we kind of did it to ourselves.
"No disrespect, obviously, to them. They played a great game and did what they had to do, but we just didn't execute and that's what you're going to get."
Boston won't have to wait long to bounce back, as it hosts the Columbus Blue Jackets at TD Garden on Thursday. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET. You can watch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, on NESN.
