Bruins Notes: ‘Positivity’ Preached Amid Rough Stretch
'You have to come in with a good feeling'
The Bruins haven’t found much success lately, so there’s been a concerted effort to regain control.
Boston doesn’t want to just control things on the ice, but its emotions, attitude and desire to do the little things — which will help it get back into the win column on a consistent basis. The B’s moved in the right direction Saturday, earning a shutout victory over the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center.
“(The leaders) were really good, especially how vocal — never mind what you saw physically, but how vocal they were on the bench and reinforcing a positive message all night long,” Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery said postgame, as seen on NESN.
“You have to come in with a good feeling,” Bruins forward Charlie Coyle echoed. “It’s how you create energy. We definitely had that pregame here, and I think we have energy. It boosts confidence in yourself and others, and you kind of share it.
“I think that’s something we have to make sure we keep harping on and doing, because when things aren’t going our way, you get into that lull mode. How do you get out? Flip the switch. Do something, say something and things start to turn a little bit.”
The Bruins got something started, but the real test will be in how they respond on the second night of a back-to-back against the Seattle Kraken.
“I really liked the way we played, the way we started,” Bruins captain Brad Marchand told NESN’s Andrew Raycroft on Saturday. “We did a good job of weathering their pushes throughout the game, where lately we’ve been breaking. We didn’t tonight, so it’s something we can build off of. It’s a great opportunity again tomorrow, so we have to follow it up now.”
More Bruins
Bruins-Flyers produced some other noteworthy items on Saturday:
— The B’s looked to start fast in this one, starting their fourth line of Cole Koepke, Mark Kastelic and John Beecher at the beginning of the game. It’ll surprise very few to hear they drew a penalty on the game’s first shift.
— Bruins goaltender Joonas Korpisalo stopped all 20 shots he faced in Philadelphia, and gave a rather simple response to his first shutout with his new club.
“It’s a long season…my job doesn’t change. It doesn’t matter where I am,” Korpisalo said, per team-provided video. “My one job is to stop the puck.”
— Boston and Philadelphia got into quite the scuffle with the clock ticking down, with Trent Frederic and Travis Konecny getting after it before both were escorted off the ice. Kastelic and Garnet Hathaway also had a couple instances where they were looking for trouble, so look out for that when these teams meet again on Dec. 7.
— The Bruins will head back home Sunday, looking to complete the sweep on their back-to-back against the Seattle Kraken. It’s an evening matchup, with puck drop scheduled for 5 p.m. ET, following an hour of pregame coverage on NESN.
