Joe Sacco’s message to the Bruins? Create some “chaos”

Bruins

“We have good players in this room and they are capable of more.”

Joe Sacco isn’t going to reinvent the wheel with the Bruins.

Time is not on the side of Boston’s interim head coach, given that the team’s roster has faltered and is in need of results.

Continued lapses in execution, severe erosion of Boston’s stingy defensive structure and lack of scoring channels cost Jim Montgomery his job on Tuesday.

With Boston’s new coach given only a short runway to get his team ready for Thursday’s home game against Utah, Sacco’s message has been clear in his first days at the helm.

“He’s getting harder to play against,” Sacco said Wednesday of Boston’s first order. “I want teams to know again that it will be difficult for us to score goals. Our offense will come.

“There are enough players here who are going to score goals and I think there is too much emphasis on that. Let’s focus on keeping the puck out of our net, we’re tough to play against and I’m very confident this group will score goals.”

Sacco’s task was accomplished Thursday in Utah’s 1-0 win.

It was far from a blowout, and a modest one-goal win over a sub-.500 team won’t allay fears that Boston’s sleepwalking into the 2024-25 season is far from trivial.

But two points is still two points.

And since Sacco and his revamped roster have decided to simplify Montgomery’s system, Boston has a template that could lead to smooth wins better suited to the current roster.

“It always feels different when you have a new coach on the bench,” Brad Marchand said after Thursday’s win. “We tweaked some good things. I think mentality was the biggest factor.”

Unlike February 2017, when Bruce Cassidy injected speed and volume into Claude Julien’s measured, strict structure, Sacco isn’t looking for radical changes—at least not yet.

The emphasis on urgency and best practices in the defensive zone made life easier for Joonas Korpisalo on Thursday.

Skaters, perhaps shaken by Montgomery’s firing, found their feet on the ice at TD Garden. Puck battles were won regularly, and extended passes were abandoned in favor of low-risk passes across the frozen rink.

Blueliners like Nikita Zadorov completed checks and pinned skaters to the boards without the added snarl that leads to two minutes in the penalty box. Mark Kastelic struck out in a pair of bouts with Robert Bortuzzo.

The unorthodox rushing that kept Korpisalo and Jeremy Swayman under duress for 20 games was suppressed against Utah, while consistent puck support created layers of black-and-gold jerseys in front of Korpisalo.

Utah had 15 shots on goal during Thursday’s 5-on-5 play (per Natural Stat Trick), but the visiting team created just two high-danger scoring chances in that span.

This is a game that won’t be featured in many highlight reels. But Sacco’s strategy is to strengthen the team, which needs to start playing to its strengths.

If there is any appetite for immediate change, it’s at the other end of the ice.

Montgomery’s emphasis on quality over quantity in Boston’s shot selection has led to a surge in the Bruins’ 5-on-5 scoring.

At least for a while.

But giving up shots in search of selective, dangerous looks in the slot is only a fruitful approach if you have finishing talent in your lineup.

It’s a problem that cost them dearly last spring. During a six-game playoff series against the Panthers, Boston had a 60-40 advantage in scoring chances… but Florida outscored them at 5-on-5, 11-10.

On Wednesday, even Don Sweeney admitted that Boston may have to make some shots to move forward.

“In your opinion, can we play a little more north-south and direct, make it a little more volume-oriented and score the fat part? Yeah, I think we’ll probably have to go back to a little bit more of a simplified approach because we haven’t been able to implement a system that’s been so damn successful,” Sweeney said.

Given the size of Boston’s forward and apparent lack of finishing, a few volleys of pucks towards the net could be the move for a Bruins team hungry to score.

Avoiding tic-tac-toe passes and hitting the slots for tips and rebounds won’t earn points for style, but the strategy paid dividends on Thursday’s power play.

With Sacco deciding to move Marchand from his usual spot along the right wing to the goal line and goal line, the Boston coach sought to get more pucks around the net.

Sure enough, Marchand put a shot on goal off a David Pastrnak fake and created an elusive puck that Elias Lindholm slotted home for his first goal since Oct. 12.

Despite Boston scoring only once on seven power play calls Thursday, the Bruins had 18 shots on goal and 10 scoring chances, taking advantage of the men’s advantage.

“We said we wanted to attack the net more, especially down low,” Sacco said. “Created more chaos in front of the goalkeeper… more around the goal line, at the bumper. I thought we used the bumper really effectively today on the power play and were able to spread it out a little bit.”

The Bruins still have a lot of work to do when it comes to hitting in the offensive zone. Even with Thursday’s win, Boston has lit the lamp just six times in its last four games.

But as long as Boston can continue to unravel its mistakes in the D zone and limit its risk, Sacco believes the offense will happen — no matter how unsightly the process of finding the twine may be.

“Usually when you have a work ethic, good energy in training and some enthusiasm, after that the execution will take care of itself,” Sacco said Wednesday, adding: “We have good players in this room and they are capable of more, and our task as a coaching staff is to achieve this from them.

“I think it all starts with our work ethic.”

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Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots and Red Sox for Boston.com, a position he has held since 2023.

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