Just when you think that the 2024-25 Boston Bruins have hit a new low this season and things can’t get any worse, guess again. This is turning into a nightmare of a season that can’t end quickly enough. Stuck in a six-game losing streak and on the West Coast for one more game on Wednesday night against the Anaheim Ducks, the Bruins' woes this season hit another new low.
During their six-game losing streak, the Black and Gold are 0-5-1, with the lone point picked up being a 3-2 overtime loss to the Buffalo Sabres on March 17. During this stretch, there have been a number of reasons as to why they are losers of six straight.
Interim coach Joe Sacco had an opportunity to challenge a San Jose Sharks game-winning goal late in the third period on Saturday night, but he did not. It looked like a clear-cut offside, and his reasoning after the game didn’t make sense in a 3-1 loss. Who is to say that if the goal was even taken off the board that the result would have changed with the way things have gone for Boston in the last month. After a 7-2 loss at the hands of the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday night, Ty Anderson of 98.5 The Sports Hub reported a concerning trend over the last five games for the Black and Gold that set an unwanted franchise first.
Bruins set a franchise low for shots on the net in a five-game span
Over the last five games in losses to the Tampa Bay Lightning, Sabres, Vegas Golden Knights, Sharks, and Kings, the Bruins have totaled just 84 shots on the net, which the first time in franchise history that they have failed to landed at least 90 shots on the net during a five-game stretch. Looking at the numbers, it isn’t pretty, either.
Those are ugly-looking numbers if we’re being honest. During this stretch of games, never mind getting pucks on the net, the Bruins have had trouble with zone entries and sustaining any pressure of any kind, whether it’s at even strength or on the power play. Let’s not overlook that there have been odd-man rushes where shots don’t get on the net.
Against Los Angeles, Elias Lindholm scored 19 seconds into the game on their first shot on the net, and after that, over the final 59:41 of the game, they managed just 12 shots on the net. Against the Lightning on March 15, they did not record a shot on the net in the second period, while Tampa Bay ripped 21 at Jeremy Swayman in that period. When was the last time the Bruins went a whole period without a shot on the net? That was back in November against the Ottawa Senators. Once in a season is unheard of, but twice in four months? Yikes.
You can’t score if you don’t shoot, but goodness, even for a team that lacks goal-scorers, you would think that they would be able to generate at least some shots on the net. The 2024-25 Boston Bruins continue to set a new low on what seems like a nightly basis at this point.