Bruins Star Defends This Coaching Decision Following Dreadful Loss

The Boston Bruins failed to generate and sustain any type of offensive threat in their disastrous 8-2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night.

Head coach Jim Montgomery attempted to jumpstart the offense by mixing up the forward lines, and despite the changes, the Bruins managed just 15 shots on goal through 60 minutes.

The line changes are clearly not the issue, at least according to David Pastrnak.

“Monty’s just trying to get us going,” Pastrnak told reporters, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “… Personally, I have no problem with it. I can read off anybody. Right now, it’s not about the combinations. We are not good enough as a team and that’s where it starts.”

The Bruins finished the first month of the season on a two-game losing skid a 4-6-1 overall record. It’s quite different than the two previous seasons when Boston started off “running and gunning.” They opened the 2023-24 campaign with six straight wins and 10 wins in their first 11 games the season before.

With many new faces in the locker room, Pastrnak explained how the team will overcome its slump.

“We’re going to get out of it together. That’s the only way,” he said. “We’re going to tighten up as a group together. Find a way to win games against the good teams.

“That’s how sometimes you get to know each other, know what to expect and we just need to get on a winning streak and compete. The compete level needs to be way higher, details, that’s what’s going to get us out of there.”

The Bruins will have a chance to get back in the win column when they battle the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday afternoon. Boston was shut out by Philadelphia on Tuesday night at TD Garden.