Bruins booed, "Fire Sweeney" chants ring out at TD Garden during lifeless loss to Oilers
BOSTON -- While the Boston Bruins remain lifeless on the ice, the fans in the stands continue to get restless. Bruins fans let the team know their displeasure late in Tuesday night's 4-0 loss to the Edmonton Oilers at TD Garden with a chorus of boos and calls for general manager Don Sweeney's job.
The Bruins were outplayed and outclassed by the Oilers throughout Tuesday night's loss, and the frustration from fans boiled over as the team careened to its fifth straight winless contest. Fans booed the team heavily during a fruitless third period power-play, and a loud "Fire Sweeney" chant echoed throughout the stadium.
While the paying customers brought it on Tuesday, the paid players did not. Boston once again failed to do anything offensively, and was outshot 39-26. The Bruins had just a dozen shots on goal over the first two period, and trailed 3-0 heading into the final frame.
The Bruins were 0-for-2 on the man advantage on Tuesday night, mustering just three shots on the power play. They've scored on just 12.4 percent of their power plays this season, ranking 31st in the NHL.
Adam Henrique scored a pair of goals for the visitors and Boston fans got to see a sweet breakaway goal by Connor McDavid, but they didn't see any Bruins light the lamp. It's the third time the team has been shutout at home this season and their fifth shutout overall. Boston also has six losses where the team has scored just one goal.
Tuesday's final score could have been a lot worse had Jeremy Swayman not made 35 saves. But the team is still searching for answers when it comes to its non-existent offense.
"They were certainly playing at a higher level right from the drop of the puck. They won the majority of races to pucks, they were quicker to pucks, won more one-on-one battles," Bruins interim coach Joe Sacco said after the loss. "We pretty much got what we deserved tonight because of the way we played."
The Bruins have no answers for team's offensive struggles
With 111 goals on the season, the Bruins have the 26th-ranked scoring offense in the NHL. Their 27.9 shots per game are 21st in the league. Even after getting a day off on Monday, they lacked urgency against the Oilers, which is what really drew the ire of the fanbase.
"I don't have a good answer," Elias Lindholm said after the game. "We weren't even close tonight."
Lindholm said the team is embarrassed and frustrated with themselves this season.
Boston hasn't won since a 4-0 home win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Dec. 28. The Bruins have lost six of their last seven games after winning four of five ahead of their Christmas break. Team captain Brad Marchand said the blame is squarely on the players.
"We haven't been our best since the break," said Marchand. "We've gotten away a little bit from the way that we were playing to have success. It's on us to play a better brand of hockey, the way that we were before the break."
The Bruins are currently sitting in third place in the Atlantic Division at 20-18-5, but that's mostly because they've played more games than the teams behind them. The Tampa Bay Lighting are just one point behind the Bruins, but have played five fewer games than Boston.
The B's are now off to Florida where they'll play the Lightning on Thursday, before another matchup with their nemesis, the Florida Panthers, on Saturday.
"We understand the situation we're in. We understand we can't give points away," Marchand said. "We're not that far from moving up in our position in our division. We need to be better. We can't continue to slip and give away points in the situation we're in."
We'll see if the crowd reaction Tuesday night prompts Sweeney to do something. Firing Jim Montgomery was supposed to provide a spark, but that was only temporary.
Matt Poitras (eight goals, 10 assists in 21 games) and Fabian Lysell (five goals, 13 assists in 28 games) are waiting in Providence. The trade deadline is still two months away, but the Bruins need help now.
The team is showing no real signs of turning this around, and the fans are getting restless in Boston. Sweeney better act soon, or management may not give him the chance.
