What Brad Marchand Believes Bruins Can Fix From Early Frustrations

BOSTON — The Bruins need a spark and a shift in priorities after another frustrating loss on Thursday night at the hands of the Dallas Stars.

Penalties and a lack of proper attitude plagued the Bruins for another game as the new-look roster looks for consistency in its approach. That consistency needs to come from the top for Boston, particularly from its captain. Brad Marchand preached that message after the loss that dropped the Bruins below .500.

“When you have a lot of turnover a couple of years in a row, you’re trying to find that chemistry,” Marchand told reporters. “Obviously, there’s a lot of guys that missed important days in camp. That can change how a team comes together. It’s early. Like I said, a lot of the mistakes that we’re making and the reasons that we feel we’re losing is because of our lack of respect for the game and consistency in details.”

Marchand continued: “Those are things you can fix. When you have a lack of effort and guys not caring, that’s a whole different issue. That’s not what we have.”

The Bruins showed flashes of trending in the right direction on Thursday night. Justin Brazeau scored on the power play and Boston peppered Dallas goaltender Casey Desmith in the third period with several chances around the net. Marchand believes that’s reason for optimism if the Bruins can maximize those chances.

“When we play the right way, we’re a good team right now,” Marchand added. “We’re having a hard time understanding that we need to do that all the way through the game. We need to do better on our special teams, our PK, and our PP. There’s a lot of areas you can point at right now to be better. It’s a process. We understand that in here.”

Boston has played just eight games so far this season. As a veteran, Marchand knows the swings that the NHL season brings and trusts the Bruins to weather those.

“This is a hard league,” Marchand said. “It’s going to humble you pretty quick. If any team thinks they’re just going to roll through, they’ve got another thing coming. It’s a great opportunity for us to take advantage of it and be better. Enjoy that process of working and simplifying.”