The Boston Bruins hit the reset button on the 2024-25 season this week with the firing of head coach Jim Montgomery. They will be hoping that Thursday’s 1-0 win over the Utah Hockey Club in Joe Sacco’s debut as interim head coach marks the start of a turnaround.
It is, of course, too early to know if it will or not. The Bruins have played other good games this season – not nearly enough of them, mind you – but one of this team’s biggest issues has been a maddening inconsistency that has prevented them from stringing wins together.
It would also be fair to ask if it’s worth getting too excited about a 1-0 win over a Utah team that is 3-8-2 in its last 13 games. This was not a hang-on-for-dear-life 1-0 win, though. It was much more of a professional, in-control 1-0 win.
The Bruins outshot Utah 31-21. They had a 12-4 advantage in high-danger chances. Their effort was where it needed to be all night, at both ends of the ice and on both special teams units as well. Joonas Korpisalo looked calm and confident in net en route to his second shutout of the season.
Maybe 1-0 was too close for comfort, but there were still plenty of encouraging signs from the Bruins in Sacco’s first game. Here are the three biggest:
‘The passion and the emotion’
While discussing where a potential turnaround needs to begin on Wednesday, Bruins general manager Don Sweeney pointed to “work rate.”
The single most disappointing part of Boston’s poor start has been how often they have looked lifeless and disinterested. It may very well turn out that the roster Sweeney assembled simply isn’t good enough to do anything this season, but you’d like to at least see how this team looks when it’s bringing a consistent effort on a day-to-day basis.
Thursday was a good first step. The Bruins had energy right from the start. They played with pace. They forechecked and backchecked hard. They won battles. They were very physical, with Mark Kastelic (2 fights, 4 hits) leading the way in that department.
“Just a good effort all around from our guys,” Sacco said. “…We were looking for that. We were looking for the passion and the emotion in our club, and we saw some of that here tonight.”
That passion and emotion can go a long way towards fixing the Bruins, if it’s sustained. Whether it will be remains to be seen. Teams often respond in their first game after a coaching change. Continuing to respond in games two, three, four, etc. is where it gets challenging.
“We have to continue to build and understand the importance of having the same effort every day,” Bruins captain Brad Marchand said. “That’s where it always starts and ends in this locker room and this team and organization, is compete.”
The power play
Maybe the second-most disappointing part of this Bruins season to date has been the power play. Not only is it the worst in the NHL by percentage, but it has also given up the most shorthanded goals against. It has consistently deflated the team, failing to come through in key spots over and over again. And the Bruins have actually had the most power plays in the NHL, giving this unit even more opportunities to disappoint.
A quick look at the box score shows that the Bruins went 1-for-7 on the power play Thursday, which wouldn’t scream “turnaround” in and of itself. But make no mistake, Boston’s man advantage looked way better against Utah than it has pretty much all season.
Most importantly, they were shot-ready. In just under 12 minutes of total power-play time, the Bruins landed 18 shots on goal, a rate of 1.5 per minute. Prior to Thursday, they were averaging 0.8 per minute on the man advantage.
This wasn’t just funneling the puck to David Pastrnak in the left circle either. He did have four shots on the power play, but so did Pavel Zacha. Brad Marchand had three. Morgan Geekie had two. Charlie McAvoy, Georgii Merkulov, Justin Brazeau, Nikita Zadorov and Elias Lindholm all had one.
The goal came from Lindholm, his first in 18 games, and it came from Pastrnak not forcing a shot but instead making a better play. Pastrnak faked his patented one-timer before sending a slap pass to Marchand on the doorstep. Karel Vejmelka saved that, but Lindholm collected the rebound and flipped it in. Lindholm’s relief was clear in his celebration, as was his teammates’ happiness for him.
Whether it was Sacco’s doing or assistant coach Chris Kelly’s, there were some notable tweaks on the power play. Merkulov, who was very good on Providence’s power play, started the game on the top unit. He got a couple good looks and wasn’t afraid to shoot, but he eventually got replaced by Zacha. Merkulov had been on for a long shift before the Bruins’ third power play, so Zacha started in his place, made some good things happen himself, and then just stuck there.
Merkulov and Zacha were both used mostly on the right elbow, with Marchand – who usually occupies the right elbow – shifting lower to more of a net-front or doorstep position. That paid off on the goal as well as a few other good chances.
The Bruins also used Lindholm in the bumper more, something they had planned to do from the start this season only to not have it come to fruition. That forced Utah’s penalty kill to focus more attention there, creating more space for Pastrnak and either Merkulov or Zacha on the elbows.
On their entries, the Bruins notably cut down on the neutral-zone drop passes, instead taking a more direct approach and either gaining the line immediately with possession or chipping the puck into a good spot and retrieving it. The drop pass can be effective because it allows the trailing player to pick up more speed and survey his options, but the Bruins were relying on it too much and running into walls at the blue line that they were trying to beat with too many guys standing still.
“We said that we wanted to attack the net more,” Sacco said. “Especially down low, create some more chaos in front of the goaltender and use the down and in plays more, the goal line, the bumper. I thought we really used the bumper efficiently today on the power play, was able to spread them out a little bit. And then from there, the bumper had some chances, you can slide it over to the elbow from there. So, the guys did a good job here today. We still have to continue to get better, but it was a good start.”
Even when the Bruins weren’t scoring, their power play was building positive momentum. It was putting Utah on their heels and creating energy in TD Garden. The loud cheers after a threatening first-period power play were something we had heard very little of this season.
The 5-on-5 defense
The Bruins’ 5-on-5 defensive structure had seemingly started to turn a corner earlier this month, only to then completely fall apart during their three-game losing streak over the past week.
It returned in a big way on Thursday. Utah is a team that wants to play fast, but the Bruins did a terrific job slowing them down through the neutral zone.
They had an effective forecheck that didn’t allow for easy breakouts. Their forwards weren’t getting caught up ice and were committed to backchecking and pressuring Utah in transition. That allowed Boston’s defensemen to tighten up their gaps and pressure Utah at the blue line more, taking away the easy zone entries that had become far too common for Bruins opponents. In a word, all five Bruins skaters were connected, something that hasn’t been the case nearly enough this season.
When Utah did get in the zone, the Bruins kept them to the outside and didn’t let them get to the net. Utah finished the game with 15 shots on goal at 5-on-5 and just two high-danger chances, both season lows for a Bruins opponent. Korpisalo was very good when he needed to be, but as far as shutouts go, this one would rank on the easier side for any goalie thanks to the play in front of him.
“I thought our layers were pretty good tonight,” Sacco said. “We're still – we have to get better, but I thought defending the rush through the neutral zone, our rush defense was pretty solid. Our D did a really good job of staying inside the dots and forcing plays to the outside. And then in our own defensive zone, we talked the other day about protecting our goaltender more, and we did a good job. We played hard in front of our goal. We made it difficult on the opponent to get really inside, quality slot looks.”
Again, it’s just one game, and Utah is a team that hadn’t been playing well. It would be way too early to suggest that the Bruins have turned things around or that the coaching change fixed all their problems. But Thursday’s win was a good start, and a much-needed reset.