Charlie McAvoy Knows Bruins Must Do Better To Support Goalies

The Bruins still are among the best teams in the NHL despite their three-game losing streak heading into Thursday thanks in large part to their goaltending.

Boston gave up 17 goals over its three-game losing skid, and while Jim Montgomery made a goalie change during Monday’s loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets, the defense partly is to blame for the goals conceded.

The rush defense and checking were a point of emphasis in practice this week as the Bruins know Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman can’t play hero every night.

“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,” McAvoy told reporters, per team-provided video. “We’re giving up a lot more than we should of. Our goalies, time and time again, were bailing us out. You’re looking back on a couple of saves of the game where we don’t win and we don’t get a point if they’re not there for us.

“It’s not fair to ask them to do that every single night. For us, we’ve got to be better. (Wednesday) was a good day. We wanted to just work on compete, having compete be the mindset and D zone. Just focusing on details and having success, and we have a chance to implement it (Thursday). We’ve just got to build the game. We’ve got to build it the right way, play simple brand, and we’ll be all right.”

Swayman will get the nod Thursday against the San Jose Sharks, and he will come in with plenty of motivation to get Boston on the right track.