On Tuesday night, the NHL Frozen Frenzy returns for a third consecutive season, with all 32 teams participating in games that start at 6 p.m. For the Boston Bruins and their fans, it's hard to get excited for a night filled with hockey when the Black and Gold enter as losers of six of their last seven games the way they have.
For the second time in three games, the Bruins allowed seven goals in a 7-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators on Monday night on the road. It was a long bus ride to the airport and an even longer flight home from Canada.
Boston's season is spiraling out of control just 11 games into the season, as they are already at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings. Monday's effort was a reminder of just how bad things were last season. We are heading down that road once again.
Bruins face important bounce-back game against Islanders on Tuesday night
It's the 12th game of the season for the Bruins on Tuesday night against the New York Islanders, and it is already another bounce-back game for the 2025-26 Boston Bruins. That's right, game 12, and we're already doing this this year, again.
Boston will be coming off another game where they allowed seven goals, this time to the Senators, four days after allowing seven to the Anaheim Ducks. After the loss to Anaheim, they had a day of practice to go over video and work on things on the ice. They don't have that luxury against the Islanders, who were resting in their hotel in Boston while the Bruins were getting steamrolled by the Sens.
For the second time in three days, the Bruins were at a loss for words after the game in Ottawa. That's not a good sign, and an even worse sign is when coach Marco Sturm is calling out players on the NESN broadcast following the game.
It's early in the year, but this feels like a game where the Bruins will tell us a lot about the rest of the season, either they're in or a free-fall this year is incoming quicker than fans thought it might. It is once again gut-check time early in a frustrating season.