Bruins Notes: Boston ‘Felt Momentum Shift’ In Loss To Wild

It appeared as though the Boston Bruins were on their way to breaking a three-game losing streak Saturday against the Minnesota Wild, but a recent trend cropped back up and led to another loss.

They were outplayed in the second period.

Boston started strong, potting a goal and drawing two penalties in the first five minutes of the game. That’s when things started to cool considerably, though, with the final five minutes of that frame proving to be the turning point. Bruins captain Brad Marchand was called for a penalty in the closing seconds, but head coach Jim Montgomery saw the shift coming before that.

“I felt the momentum shift probably three minutes before (the end of the first period),” Montgomery said, per a team-provided transcript. “You don’t like taking a penalty in the last minute (of a period) because you give a team fresh ice. I thought they built a lot of momentum off that.”

Minnesota took full advantage, potting two goals in the second period to take a lead it didn’t relinquish. It was just the latest instance of Boston following the same script.

“I liked the first 15 minutes of our game, and I liked the last 10 minutes of our game,” Montgomery said. “We just need a more concerted effort.”

Here are more notes from Saturday night’s matchup between the Bruins and Wild:

— The Bruins’ four-game losing streak is their longest since August 2020, when they dropped the final four games of their playoff series with the Tampa Bay Lightning in the bubble.

That was 1,209 days prior.

— The NHL schedules a three-day holiday break every season, with no regular season games played on either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. That means Boston will have a few days off to get its minds right in hopes of snapping the losing streak.

“It’s a good time to go spend some time with your family,” Montgomery said postgame. “It’s a great time of the year. Santa is showing up for everybody so we’re going to enjoy the time with our family and get back to work against Buffalo on (Dec. 27).”

— The Bruins will return Wednesday to conclude a three-game road trip against the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center. They’ll drop the puck at 7:30 p.m. ET, following an hour of pregame coverage, on NESN.