Yahoo Sports Bruins Come Alive In Important Win
BOSTON – Like any hockey player or coach, Joe Sacco has his normal game-day routine.
On Thursday, however, he tweaked it a little bit.
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Sacco, who made his head coaching debut for the Boston Bruins, normally would go home between the team’s morning skate and the game during his 10 years as an assistant coach, but this time he remained at Warrior Ice Arena to make sure he was focused.
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“I was able to relax and get my thoughts together. I wanted to try to enjoy the day, too, because I knew this was the first one and I wanted to make sure I remembered it.”
The Bruins responded with a 1-0 victory over the Utah Hockey Club Thursday night at TD Garden. Only two days after the Bruins fired Jim Montgomery, Boston produced a more consistent effort for 60 minutes. It wasn’t a blowout, but it could lead to a monumental step in the right direction for the Bruins. These changes, both on and off the ice, could help guide the team in the right direction.
The players presented Sacco with the game puck after his first win in Boston.
Here's to many more. pic.twitter.com/fW9E6nbrlj
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) November 22, 2024
“The locker room had a good vibe,” Sacco said. “It was alive.”
While most of the focus was on the native of Medford, Mass., and Boston University alum, Sacco made sure to give all the credit to the players for this important win.
“To get our guys to get a win was even more important to feel better about themselves,” he said. “How we went about the game tonight was a business-like approach. We had a couple of individuals who really brought some energy to our group tonight to lift the bench at certain moments during the game. It was a good effort all around from our guys. They really dug in.”
Sacco said the team needed to play with passion and emotion and it was on display during the win.
He understands these types of opportunities don’t come around often and he hopes to take full advantage of this situation, which he described as “not the most ideal” that led to Montgomery’s dismissal.
There’s no denying everyone in the organization liked Montgomery, but a change was needed for the betterment of the organization. There are too many unknowns at this point whether or not this decision will pay dividends. It did Thursday night.
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It’s not unusual for a team to find its game immediately following a mid-season coaching change or even when a trade is made, and the Bruins responded Thursday night. It’s a completely different scenario this time compared to the Bruins’ previous in-season change. Still, it worked for Boston when Bruce Cassidy replaced Stanley Cup-winning coach Claude Julien on Feb. 7, 2017. The Bruins won four straight games and 12 of 15 after Cassidy took over behind the bench.
Bruins’ Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak and Brandon Carlo are the only three current players to play for all three coaches. They’ve all witnessed the morphosis that occurs both on and off the ice when there’s significant turnover.
“It always feels different when there’s a new coach behind the bench,” Marchand said.
Boston has lacked the necessary bite to its game of late, but it returned after the Bruins scored their first goal of the game against Utah. They finally capitalized on their fifth power play of the night when Elias Lindholm scored at 12:41 of the second period. He pointed towards the rafters and it was evident he took a deep breath. Only 14 seconds after Boston gained a 1-0 lead, the Bruins’ Mark Kastelic dropped the gloves with Utah’s Robert Bortuzzo in a spirited bout that drew an ovation from the fans.
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“He brought a spark to our group tonight,” Sacco said of Kastelic’s performance. “He showed he was ready to play tonight.”
Overall, the Bruins generated in areas they have been lacking, including compete, physicality and willingness to do the little things. It was noticeable and a step in the right direction. However, it was only one game. Boston understands it needs to build on this effort in hopes of regaining an identity both on and off the ice.
“The guys did a good job here tonight,” Sacco said. “We still have to continue to get better, but it was a good start . . . it’s one game. We have a long way to go.”
It was a positive start for Sacco and the Bruins.
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