Fraser Minten called it "a humbling week for us" after the Bruins' 6-2 loss to the Wild at TD Garden on Saturday night.
It's the second straight loss for Boston, and the room didn't hide from it. The Bruins are 13-6-1 and sit 4th in the Atlantic, but the last two games have been rough.
Minten scored on the power play and finished with 3 shots, yet his message was about structure, not individual numbers. Ty Anderson shared the quote that sums up the mood.
The Bruins' own account then posted the rest of his thought. "Our foundation of being a good team is defense," Minten said. "We have to get back to that."
That wasn't a one-man message. David Pastrnak, who had a goal and an assist and fired 6 shots, put the responsibility on himself first.
Anderson also passed along Pastrnak's words: "We have to play better defensively, starting with me." When your top scorer says that, the rest of the room doesn't get to hide.
Charlie McAvoy pointed to finishing. He went minus-4 in 24:34 and was part of a night that got away from Boston, including Charlie McAvoy's third-period ejection.
Why the Bruins say the Wild won the dirty areas
Nikita Zadorov put it in plain terms. "It's hard to win in this league," he said, adding that the little things can cost you a game.
He felt Boston was outplaying Minnesota at times. But he said you have to get into the dirty areas, and that's how the Wild scored.
Jack Studley's expected-goals note backs up the frustration. The Bruins had an expected goals total of 4.16 Saturday and scored 2, so the finishing and goaltending that carried them all season slipped at the same time.
Marco Sturm didn't offer excuses either. He called the Wild a Cup contender and said "we're just not there yet." He also said Minnesota was simply better in the last two games, which Boston lost by a combined 11-4. We covered his postgame comments in Marco Sturm's Cup contender admission.
Boston gets a day off Sunday and returns to practice Monday. The Bruins then host the Kings on Tuesday, a team that has lost 4 straight and sits 30th in the NHL.
That should be a soft landing on paper. Based on what the room said this morning, the Bruins know that a defensive reset is on the table before anything else.
This article was written with the help of artificial intelligence, based on public reports and official sources.
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