Lack of discipline derails Boston vs. Predators

The Boston Bruins finished their three-game road trip with an overall record of 1-1-1 after losing their last two games to the Utah Hockey Club and the Nashville Predators.

Over the last two games, the Bruins have allowed their opponents 10 power play opportunities while increasing their league-leading 40 infractions in seven games.

“It’s discipline. We get way too many stick penalties,” Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery told reporters in Nashville in a video provided by the team. “You want to prevent scoring opportunities and take good penalties. Normally you will kill these. We have too many in the offensive zone. We have to sharpen that.”

Bruins defenseman Nikita Zadorov was called for hooking in the second period. It was the seventh straight game in which Zadorov committed at least one penalty since joining Boston in the offseason. While the Predators didn't score based on the man advantage, Zadorov knows the number of penalties the Bruins committed certainly drives the skaters out of the game.

“Some guys sat there for 10 minutes,” Zadorov said, as seen in NESN’s postgame coverage. “They don’t get their shifts and they lose their legs. It takes the momentum of the game and gives the other team the momentum.”

Boston scored 5-6 in the shootout, but conceded a goal just as time expired because Charlie McAvoy scored a double shot with a high stick in the second period. Normally, stopping a four-minute power play gives a punished team momentum, but Tommy Novak's goal gave Nashville a 2-0 lead late in the second period.

“I thought we responded well right after that,” Montgomery said. “But again it's the fact that we have to fend off a four-minute penalty after we had already tried to fend off a three-minute penalty in the first penalty. … It overwhelms certain players. Certain players play too many minutes. Other players sit on the bench for too long.”

Here are more notes from Tuesday night's Bruins-Predators game:

— The Bruins also struggled to maintain momentum in the offensive zone because they were too careless against a desperate Predators team.

“Right now, some of the guys aren’t having offensive success,” Montgomery said. “And usually you try to be perfect, and when you try to be perfect instead of just trusting your instincts, passing often fails.”

– Montgomery said players can avoid losing confidence when playing Bruins hockey again.

“One of them is that we stick together,” he said. “Secondly, we have a process that has brought us a lot of success. We have to come back to that. Unfortunately, sometimes we either don't start on time or don't finish after 60 minutes. Look at the first seven minutes of the second, that was Bruins hockey.”

– The Bruins return home to host the Dallas Stars on Thursday night. TD Garden puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET. You can catch all the action as well as an hour of pregame coverage on NESN.