McAvoy: 'Adversity is good' for Bruins amid 3-game losing streak

Boston Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy thinks there's a lot his team can gain in the long run from its current three-game losing streak.

"I think the mindset in here - or at least one that I'm trying to take - is, adversity is good," he said after practice Wednesday. "I think it's something that we didn't really have much (of) last year. This is a bit of a change of pace in here.

"You get used to winning so much that the losses, they hurt. They feel a lot different than maybe how they used to feel when they're so few and far in between. ... We're gonna learn a lot more about ourselves with this and as this season progresses."

Boston fell to the lowly Columbus Blue Jackets 5-2 on Monday to extend its latest skid. The Bruins usually excel at keeping the puck out of their own net, but they've been outscored 17-8 over their past three losses, which were all in regulation.

The Bruins set new NHL records for most wins (65) and points (135) in a single season in 2022-23. Boston only lost three consecutive games once en route to claiming the Presidents' Trophy as the league's best regular-season team, but it salvaged a point from one of those losses. The last time Beantown lost three straight regular-season games in regulation was April 2022.

Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery shared McAvoy's mindset.

"In a lot of ways, we've welcomed this kind of adversity," he said. "We knew it was gonna come. We knew we weren't a 14-1-3 team, and that's just being honest. We're also not a team that gives up 17 goals in three games. We've gotta get back to who we are."

Montgomery noted that the Bruins' struggles really started about six or seven games ago.

"It gets back to checking," he said. "I think we've just been an easy team to play against here."

Despite their latest losses, the Bruins still sit on top of the Atlantic Division with a 14-4-3 record, three points clear of the Florida Panthers despite playing one fewer game.

"There's no need to panic, but this is not our standard, so we don't want to see it go on any further," McAvoy reasoned.

Boston's next chance to get back into the win column comes Thursday against the struggling San Jose Sharks.

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