Two impressive periods weren't enough for Bruins to overcome old friend Linus Ullmark, yet another slow start, in Ottawa

Boston Globe

14-03-2025

Instead, the Bruins came out for the middle period renewed and refreshed. Joe Sacco's charges took the fight to the Senators for large stretches over the final 40 minutes.
If not for frenemy goalie Linus Ullmark, Boston could have sneaked out of the Great White North with 2 points and a three-game winning streak.
The false start was the killer.
The Bruins were loose with the puck and lackadaisical in their own end over the first 20 minutes. Sure, the Senators came out fully caffeinated, but the slow starting Bostonians had as much to do with Ottawa's hot start.
Get Starting Point
A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday.
Enter Email
Sign Up
'I think a lot of [our problems were] self-inflicted,' said Sacco. 'I think our decisions with the puck at times weren't accurate. We needed to reduce the risk of how we were handling the puck, and we didn't do a good enough job of that.'
Related
:
Advertisement
The Senators are among the league's best home teams and the Bruins were slow to reach their intensity. It's been a season-long problem for Boston, which fell to 11-18-3 on the road.
'Obviously this team comes out hard and physical at home, and you've got to be able to match that and survive it, for sure,' said
Sacco echoed those thoughts.
'I think it's hard when you start chasing games and you start chasing offense, you tend to open up areas of your game that you don't want to,' he said. 'And so, it's a little bit of a high-risk game at that point. It's not really the hockey that we want to play, but that's what happens when you're in that situation. But I thought in the second to third period we got to our game more, we created and generated some chances offensively, we gave up less, which is a good thing, but it was just too late.'
Advertisement
Mittlestadt said one of the keys to getting off to a better start is to keep things simple.
'Obviously it's pretty cliché, but just getting pucks straight up and straight in and getting on the forecheck,' said Middlestadt, who has a goal and two assists in three games a Bruin. 'Sometimes you've got to defend hard early and kind of wear them down a bit, and then obviously get it going there.'
The mission now is to not allow one bad period and one bad game to turn into two bad games.
The Bruins have home dates against Eastern Conference foes Tampa Bay (Saturday) and Buffalo (Monday) before an extended trip out West.
Getting back to the way they played against the Hurricanes, Lightning, and Panthers is vital to stay in the hunt for a playoff berth.
It starts with a good forecheck. In their three previous games before Ottawa, the Bruins played on their toes rather than back on their heels. That aggressive style was lacking against the Senators.
'It's always imperative that we try to play behind and establish the forecheck early because it can set up the team for success later as the game goes on,' said Sacco. 'If you start to wear the opposition's defensemen down — and when you're a defenseman and you have to turn and go back for pucks consistently — it takes a toll on you. And that's part of the plan, right? That's what most teams want to do. Like I said, especially early on in the game to set it up for later success.'
Advertisement
It starts with the initial rusher getting in and being disruptive. It prevents teams from getting clean breaks and allows teammates to cut off escape routes. A good forecheck is a combination of hustle and structure.
'The key to the forecheck for us is the F1, we call it the first forward,' said Sacco. 'He basically sets up the forecheck. He's got to be the one driving, he's got to get in there quick. He's got to try to separate, be physical when he can, but at least try to separate man from punk, and then we can get our second forward in there quick.'
***
The Bruins were off Friday ... Look for Jeremy Swayman to get the nod against the Lightning after being yanked Thursday after allowing four first-period goals. 'That's just not on Sway all of that. Obviously, that's on everyone and we were just trying to give the team a lift there,' said Sacco, of his decision to insert Joonas Korpisalo.
Jim McBride can be reached at