At TD Garden, Boston Bruins fans were in for a letdown. They packed the arena in the hopes of seeing off the Bruins before the 4 Nations Face-Off with a win. Although the home side was doing well for most of the game, the Vegas Golden Knights turned it all around in the 3rd period. And the result? The Bruins were left blindsided, losing in front of the home crowd 3-4. Losses at home are always a huge hit to the players and fans. But losing in the dying minutes after being in control for so long? Even worse. A fact that Joe Sacco is all too aware of.

During the post-game interview, a reporter asked the head coach about the way the match slipped out of their hands after the second period. Sacco remained calm yet candid as he said, “Well, I mean, you know, you never want to give up a goal with under a minute to go. I mean. So I don’t know if deflating is the right word; it wasn’t a really good second period, I didn’t think, overall. Anyway, I think that, uh, they probably could have had one or two before that, so, um, we thought we had a pretty good first period. We came out, you know, we got a couple of good saves early on off the rush, then we found our game about three-quarters of the first period and started to play better.”

So what actually happened? Things were going really well for the home side, as they completely dominated the first period, with captain Brad Marchand and Nikita Zadorov scoring two goals. Although Mark Stone of the Golden Knights opened their tally with 4:51 remaining on the clock, the Bruins were up for more action. The second period saw the Bruins fly out of the gates, once again scoring first. However, during the final minute of the period, Zach Whitecloud came in clutch for the Golden Knights, and that’s where the wheels fell off for the Boston Bruins.

A late goal in any period is frustrating, especially one that jolts the opposition into action. Indeed, Vegas went on to score two more in the third period, capping off the perfect comeback win at TD Garden. The Bruins had opportunities, but Joe Sacco conceded that they fell short in their execution, stating, “I thought we played well. The second period, they played better, and then, you know, you get yourselves into a little bit of penalty trouble there and, uh, weren’t able to do the job, weren’t able to do the job on the kill.”

But what were the penalties that Sacco was talking about? In the final five minutes, things got heated on the rink, as the Bruins tried to break the deadlock. In the process, Pavel Zacha was handed a minor penalty for slashing, followed by another minor penalty for David Pastrnak for hooking Brett Howden. It’s these 4 minutes in the sin bin that did the Bruins in ultimately.

For the Boston Bruins, this was their final game before the 4 Nations Face-off break, and they didn’t get their perfect ending. Indeed, every team wants to secure victory before heading into a 2-week break, but things don’t always go according to plan. However, after the break there will be plenty of games to be played, but can the Bruins keep their 7-season playoff streak going?

The future of the Boston Bruins is in the dark

Currently, after their game against the Vegas Golden Knights, the Boston Bruins are in 6th place in the Atlantic Division. They have played 57 games, out of which they have won 27, lost 24, and had 6 overtime losses. These are not the kind of numbers that will inspire confidence amongst Bruins fans.

The players are heading into the 4 Nations Face-Off after back-to-back losses. And there are many doubts and questions regarding the position the team is currently in. With their streaky form, it’s not hard to imagine that 7-year playoff record coming to an end this season. Boston has a good track record when it comes to sports—it is called “Titletown” for a reason—but as it stands, the Bruins look unlikely to live up to the standards their city holds them to.

But the Boston Bruins were a strong team, and even now, they boast a wealth of experience in their ranks from Brad Marchand to Tuukka Rask—both of whom were in the Bruins’ Cup-winning side of 2011. Surely if anyone, the veterans can help turn things around right? And they have consistently qualified for the playoffs since the 2015-16 season while being top contenders most of the time as well. However, their fate seems twisted in their current campaign, as the team already looks to be out of playoff contention. Can they turn things around?

There’s a slight possibility, but it also depends on how the other teams in the Atlantic Division perform. As they currently are in 6th place, they will need to hope that some of their rivals begin to falter in order to move up the standings. After the break, they will have 20 regular season games to prove themselves, and it will be close for the Bruins, as they might need to win most of them. But who knows? Maybe the international break is just what the Bruins need to come back rejuvenated and turn it all around.