Bruins Need To Find ‘Consistency’ In Their Game Before Postseason Run

With 15 games left in the regular season, the Boston Bruins sit in second place in the Eastern Conference with 91 points.

Not bad for a team that was supposedly going to “fall off “, according to several negative predictions entering the 2023-24 season.

Despite dropping an off-kilter 5-1 decision against the St. Louis Blues on Monday night, Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery isn’t concerned with Boston’s overall play.

“Watching the game back, there’s parts of our game (we can learn from),” Montgomery told reporters after practice on Tuesday, per team-provided video. “The odd-man rushes we didn’t like, but their first goal goes off a linesman’s skate. We had a couple of open nets that we missed. Over the course of the season, that happens.

“Like a baseball player. Sometimes, he hits flares, and they land between the shortstop and left fielder, and then sometimes, he hits the cover off the ball, and it goes right into the third baseman’s glove. It happens over the course of the season. I’m not going to put much into (Monday’s) game.”

With an overall record of 38-14-15, the Bruins are 19-4-8 against teams slated to make the postseason and 19-10-7 against non-playoff teams.

Montgomery said the Bruins need to continue to refine their game and have the ability to find their game consistently — whether they are playing well or have started poorly in a matchup.

“I think our team has shown the ability to check. We’ve shown the ability to score; we’ve shown the ability to play physical,” Montgomery said. “We just got to consistently do it and value being hard to play against. That’s the No. 1 thing. That’s hard to do all 82 games.”

The Bruins are coming off a stretch where they played six games in 10 days, and Montgomery recognized the club’s resilience, especially the “competitive spirit,” “great culture and the great leaders” in the locker room.

“I’ve said it since I’ve been here since day one. I’m very fortunate with the players I get to coach because they want to win,” Montgomery said. “They want to get better so that’s why I think we get better throughout the year.”

The Bruins face an Original Six rival when they head north of the border to take on the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night at the Bell Centre. The Canadiens are 33 points behind the Bruins in the standings and Boston holds the 2-0-1 record this season against Montreal. The overtime loss on Nov. 11 was the first time the Canadiens defeated the Bruins for the first time in 11 games dating back to the 2019-20 season.