The Boston Bruins were outplayed in every way in an ugly, blowout loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night.

Not only did the Black and Gold lose 8-2 to the Canes, but they were outnumbered 37-15 in the competition and only managed five shots on goal in each period.

Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery attempted to bolster the offense by juggling all four offensive lines, but Carolina’s puck pressure and pace were too much for Boston and the team was unable to maintain any cohesion throughout the game.

“We knew they were going to come hard,” Montgomery told Andy Brickley on NESN’s postgame coverage. “Unfortunately we didn’t move the pucks fast enough.”

David Pastrnak said the Bruins’ problems are more than just line combinations not working.

“Right now it’s not about the combinations,” he told reporters, according to NESN’s postgame coverage. “We’re not good enough as a team, and that’s where it starts.”

Boston ended the first month of the season with a win in one of its final six games, but Montgomery believes the team can turn things around next month.

“We’ve had a lot of success over the last two years,” he said in a video provided by the team. “We have been first in the league for the last two years. We never achieved what we wanted.

“We are not happy at the moment. Nobody is happy with what is going on. But we will get out of this. We will be better and hopefully achieve better results in the playoffs. It starts with sticking together and working. There is no substitute for the second and third attempts.”

The Bruins are unwilling to point the finger at any one player on the roster and take responsibility for how the team plays on the ice.

“All you can do is keep working hard,” Trent Frederic told reporters, as seen in NESN’s postgame coverage. “I think everyone does that and does their best. I think everyone needs to come together. Many people, myself included, are not well.

“I think everyone just needs to care about the team and be team first. I’m not saying that’s the case, but the individual things will come together and somehow merge together. How many years have we been doing this? It’s a recipe, we just have to implement it.”

More Bruins

A big takeaway from the Bruins’ completely ugly loss to the Hurricanes

by Gayle Troiani
3 min reading

Bruins star defends coaching decision after terrible loss

by Gayle Troiani
3 min reading

Here are more notes from Thursday’s Bruins-Hurricanes game:

– According to Ty Anderson of 98.5 The Sports Hub, the Bruins’ 8-2 loss to Carolina is the worst loss for Boston since the 6-0 loss to the Hurricanes on February 10, 2022.

– Boston conceded three power play goals in the first 11 games for the third time this season. According to Anderson, the Bruins had allowed three power play goals in a single game only three times in the previous 437 games.

– Brad Marchand scored his second goal of the season and became the ninth player in franchise history to score 80 career power play goals. The Bruins captain also moved ahead of Rick Middleton into fourth place in team history in goals scored (403).

– Jeremy Swayman was sent off midway through the second period after the Boston goaltender conceded six goals on 22 shots in 30 minutes.

– The Bruins travel to Philadelphia to take on the Flyers in a matinee matchup on Saturday. Puck drop from Wells Fargo Center is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. ET. You can watch the game as well as an hour of pre-game coverage on NESN.