Bruins Need A Wake-Up Call After Sloppy Road Trip To Blackhawks

Eric Canha-Imagn ImagesThe Boston Bruins are sitting pretty atop the Atlantic Division, but their recent road trip was a disaster. They dropped both games and let early leads slip away. Head coach Marco Sturm knows the team was sloppy even in the wins. He admitted this reality after the 4-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Thursday. “Even the games we won lately, in the end, we were just sloppy, I would say,” Sturm said. “It finally caught up to us a little bit on this road trip.”This is a bad look for a squad that was riding an eight-game point streak. They had a 32-18 shot advantage against the Blues but still lost. James Hagens scored the only goal for Boston. That offense is too quiet. The team needs to find a spark before Saturday’s matinee against the Blackhawks. Per WSKO-AM, the Bruins let leads fade in both recent losses despite outshooting their opponents.Blackhawks struggle with consistency tooChicago is in a worse spot. The Blackhawks have lost four of their last five games. They sit at the bottom of the Central Division. Connor Bedard scored the only goal in their 4-1 loss to Detroit on Thursday. That was his first-period goal. It was all they could muster. Chicago has not won a road game this season. They are 0-5-0 away from home. “You can use whatever vernacular you want to describe it, but ultimately we’ve got to find a level of consistency that we can roll out for 60 minutes,” Chicago defenseman Ian Cole said.No other NHL franchise has recorded zero road victories like the Blackhawks. They have scored two goals or fewer in five straight games. Patrick Kane is back in Detroit after spending three seasons there. He told his teammates to look in the mirror. Through his initial seven contests, Bedard has accumulated three goals and seven points. He is still getting over a shoulder injury. This is a matchup between two teams trying to fix their offense. But only one team can go home with a win.Time to regroup in BostonThe Bruins have a 9-4-1 record overall. They are 5-1-0 at home. A four-game home winning streak is what they aim to prolong. Over the last 10 games, David Pastrnak has posted seven goals and nine assists. He says the team needs to flip the page. “The biggest takeaway is when we are winning, we flip the page, we come to work the next day and get better,” winger David Pastrnak said. “It’s hard, but we’re going to do the same.”Forward Casey Mittelstadt thinks panic is not needed. He sees confidence and swagger in the locker room. “I don’t think it’s time to panic or anything. I think we’ve got some confidence and some swagger in here, so go home and regroup,” Mittelstadt said. The team has 12 home games out of the next 14. That is a huge chance to build momentum. They cannot afford another loss. The Blackhawks are desperate for a road win. They will come to TD Garden hungry. But the Bruins have the better roster. They just need to play for 60 minutes. Per ABC7 Chicago, Boston averages 4.1 goals in their last 10 games while Chicago averages 2.2. The gap is clear. The Bruins must use it.