Bruins Notes: Boston Reinforcing ‘Habits, Details’ Before Playoff Opener

BOSTON — The Bruins dropped their final two regular-season contests, most recently in Tuesday’s 3-1 home loss to the Ottawa Senators.

Ottawa truly controlled the pace through two periods, leading the early shot margin and scoring two goals in under a minute during the second period. Boston needed an energy response in the third period to set a better precedent for the upcoming postseason. The result was a bit better, though the Bruins still have work to do.

“I’m disappointed in it, but I do like that we got better every period,” Bruins head coach Montgomery told reporters after the loss. “The third period was a good brand of hockey.”

Boston knows that recent games will not hold up in the playoffs, though the locker room consensus believes in the changes that will be made with three full days before Game 1.

“Some things to clean up,” Bruins goaltender Linus Ullmark told reporters Tuesday night. “It’s a good thing we have a couple of days now before the fun starts. … You need to start on time. We need to play a 60-minute game instead of maybe 25-30 (minutes).”

“It would’ve been nice if we played better tonight, but we have all week to prepare,” Bruins captain Brad Marchand said after the game. “… We didn’t play very good the last two games. Other than that, we’ve been playing well. We’ve been playing within the structure and giving ourselves a chance to win every night. If we do that in the playoffs, we’ll be tough to play against.”

Consistency and continuity are values of priority for the Bruins who enter the postseason with the chance for redemption.

“Habits and details that we need to get to be good come Saturday,” Montgomery shared. “After the first period, we really needed to dig in.”

With a pair of excellent goaltenders and impact players to shuffle, Boston now gets to prepare for the start of a crucial run.

“We’ve got to figure out the right puzzles for Game 1,” Montgomery added. “That’s all that matters.”

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Here are more notes from Tuesday’s Senators-Bruins game:

— Tuesday’s game marked the final regular-season broadcast for NESN’s Jack Edwards, who announced his retirement earlier in the day for the end of this postseason. Edwards spent 19 seasons on the call of the Bruins’ TV broadcasts.

— The Bruins honored Edwards as well as NESN’s Rose Mirakian-Wheeler, the coordinating director of Bruins broadcasts, for their longtime impact on Boston’s TV coverage.

— Trent Frederic earned the 2024 NESN 7th Player Award, receiving the honor during a pregame ceremony at TD Garden.

— Pavel Zacha tied a career-high with his 21st goal of the season. He’s reached that mark in both of his seasons with the Bruins.

— Boston still took the season series 2-1 against Ottawa.

— The Bruins start their postseason quest through the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Saturday. Boston will face the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round. Game time is still to be determined.