Secondary scoring remains issue for Bruins after shutout loss

The Minnesota Wild only needed one goal to beat the Boston Bruins on Sunday, but it didn’t come without some controversy.

Morgan Geekie’s stick was slashed out of his hand on the play by Jared Spurgeon — something the officials didn’t call. Marcus Johansson sent the puck threw traffic before Frederick Gaudreau got a piece of en route to Minnesota’s 1-0 win.

“He got his stick whacked out of his hand,” Bruins coach Joe Sacco told reporters after the game. “And if he has his stick he’s able to take that passing lane away up the middle of the ice. There’s no question.”

The sequence was a tough one for Geekie, who gave away an icing after he stopped skating toward the puck. He also looked toward the official when his stick was knocked out of his hands looking for the call.

Regardless of the missed call, Sacco isn’t putting the loss on that one play when the offense didn’t generate any goals in three periods of play.

“We have to find a way to put one in the back of the net, get it behind the goaltender,” Sacco said. “We weren’t able to do that. ... We have to find a way to put the puck in, whether it’s creating more traffic at the net, having more of a shot mindset, playing off the shot more, crating some more 2-on-1’s.”

The Bruins played their second game of a back-to-back Sunday. Despite the loss, Sacco thought the effort was there from his team after a quick turnaround.

Secondary scoring has also been a problem for the Bruins of late. As noted by 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Ty Anderson, Boston has not scored a goal against a goalie while David Pastrnak is on the bench.

“It’s a mindset thing. Everyone’s got to have that belief that you can put the puck in the net,” Charlie Coyle said. “We need that secondary scoring. We need guys to take responsibility, including myself, and contribute that way.”

Boston was also without its captain Brad Marchand, who was sidelined with an upper-body injury suffered in the Bruins' win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday.

After Sunday’s loss the Bruins remain on the outside of the playoff picture. They sit two points behind the Detroit Red Wings, who have two more games remaining than Boston.