The good news for the Bruins is that it’s only October. The bad news is that if they keep playing like this, their season will be over before Thanksgiving.

The B’s continued their self-destructive behavior in their 5-2 loss to the Dallas Stars Thursday at the Garden, their third straight loss.

The first 40 minutes were not pretty. They turned the puck over repeatedly. They added a further five minors to their leading penalty total. The passing was terrible. They couldn’t even make simple plays like getting pucks deep. And they sidelined goaltender Jeremy Swayman (26 saves) for much of the first two periods.

Even the previously infallible fourth line conceded a goal.

Dallas scored three consecutive power-play goals in the first 8:59 of the second period, putting the B’s in a hole they couldn’t climb out of.

The Stars are clearly a cup candidate. The Bruins still have a long way to go to get into their league. Whether the B’s shortcomings are fixable or fatal remains to be seen, but right now a crisis of confidence is infecting their game.

“It’s pretty significant,” coach Jim Montgomery said of the confidence deficit. “But our attitude must move in a better, healthier direction. Like trying to control what you can control, which is trying to excel in your role. Our attitude is not focused on the moment, but on the results. And if your attitude is results-oriented, you tend to take too many penalties because you get frustrated easily and often turn the puck over because you don’t want to work for the offense. You want results immediately. And that attitude of not being willing to work for what we want to achieve and achieve our team play is causing some problems at the moment.”

There was a clear and deliberate, non-panic atmosphere in the locker room.

“Many of the mistakes we make and the reasons we feel like we are losing are due to a lack of respect for the game and consistency in details,” said captain Brad Marchand. “Those are things you can solve. If you lack effort and guys don’t care, that’s a whole different problem. And that’s not what we have. When you go through stints like this, you have to work your way out of it and simplify a bit. You saw in the late second and third rounds that we had already shot ourselves in the foot with penalties and such, but if we play the right way we are a good team now. We just find it more difficult to understand that we have to do that throughout the match.”

The B’s had a good run the last two Octobers, but they added a couple of big pieces in Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov, as well as several depth pieces. Growing pains were somewhat expected, but this is more than expected.

“We’re working on it right now,” said Charlie McAvoy, who had a few giveaways. “We’re trying to figure out how we can be the best we can be. Yes, we don’t like these results, we acknowledge that. It’s been different than in the past when we came out running and gunning. I think we’re doing well. We’re not panicking here. We have to play better, but we’re still trying to find ways to do that.”

The B’s best players are having some of the biggest problems right now. Marchand, still looking for his first goal, took two penalties. McAvoy had his giveaways and his passing wasn’t sharp, especially on the power play. And David Pastrnak took two more penalties, giving him seven minors in eight games.

“I honestly can’t remember taking that many penalties in my career,” Pastrnak said. “I definitely took too many penalties today and I have to pay close attention to my stick.”

The Bruins seemed intent on shooting themselves in the foot for much of the first period. They were charged with 12 giveaways in the first period. But it was a bad coughing fit from Dallas that led to the Bruins taking their first lead of the game.

Marchand was in the penalty area for a high-sticking, but 46 seconds after the Stars’ PP, Jamie Benn canceled that out with a cutting penalty, which he then compounded with an unsportsmanlike penalty when he smashed his stick against the glass.

On the first 4-on-4, Matt Dumba dropped a pass to no one behind his own net, which Matt Poitras managed to catch. He came out from behind the net and saw a wide open Pastrnak in the slot. Poitras teed it up and Pastrnak fired it past a helpless Casey DeSmith for his fifth of the year at 11:57.

But the B’s couldn’t do anything with the extended power play. In fact, they needed Swayman to make a huge stop on Wyatt Johnston’s breakaway after McAvoy’s pass ended up in Pastrnak’s skates and they handed it off to Johnston. The power play remains an ongoing concern for this team, especially the first unit.

Swayman saw plenty of straight chances in the first and was up to the challenge until Matt Duchene beat him upstairs with a wrist shot from inside the left circle. The goal came with the line of Cole Koepke, Mark Kastelic and Johnny Beecher on the ice, the first time that line was on a goal in a season.

Then the roof fell on them in the second period.

A lost puck battle on the opening faceoff in the second period led to a Dallas power play and the Stars’ first lead of the night. Logan Stankoven beat McAvoy with a loose puck along the boards of the drop and disaster ensued. Hampus Lindholm fell while trying to turn and Roope Hintz was off to the races. He didn’t score, but Pastrnak was called for hooking. Twenty seconds later, Jason Robertson lofted the puck over Swayman for a 2-1 lead with 31 seconds left.

The comedy of errors continued. Parker Wotherspoon smelled a puck just inside the Boston blue line and had to take an interference penalty on Duchene. On the PP, Stankoven fired an open shot from the top of the crease to make it 3-1 at 4:57.

The carnage did not stop.

Pastrnak took an offensive zone tripping penalty and the Stars made it 3-for-3, with old friend Tyler Seguin beating Swayman with a wide-open shot from the right circle at 8:59.

In a timeout before the penalty kill, Montgomery implored his players to kill the penalty and then start hitting and skating. They did not follow his first directive, but the second. They earned a power play and ultimately sowed some desperation about it when the second unit got on the board. Morgan Geekie and Trent Frederic won the puck behind the net and Frederic fed Justin Brazeau for his first of the season from the top of the crease at 10:41 of the second

The B’s carried the game in the third period, but the finishing touches just weren’t there. The damage had been done and Roope Hintz’s empty goal with 2:02 remaining put to rest any doubts, if there were any.

Originally published: October 24, 2024 at 9:35 PM