Sacco: Bruins must 'find solutions right now' after 5th straight loss

The Boston Bruins are searching for answers following their fifth consecutive loss, a lopsided 4-0 defeat at home to the Edmonton Oilers.

"We have to find some solutions right now," head coach Joe Sacco said. "They were certainly playing at a higher level than we were right at the drop of the puck."

He added, "We pretty much got what we deserved here tonight."

The Oilers outshot the Bruins 14-4 in the first period, outchanced them 33-24 at five-on-five, and controlled 62.34% of expected goals in the contest, according to Natural Stat Trick. Edmonton is one of the hottest teams in hockey, having won 12 of its past 15 games, but Boston's also fallen to the New York Islanders, New York Rangers, and Columbus Blue Jackets during this skid.

Tuesday's defeat prompted TD Garden fans to chant for general manager Don Sweeney's dismissal. The Bruins fired head coach Jim Montgomery earlier this season.

The Bruins rank 28th in the NHL with a minus-24 goal differential, and captain Brad Marchand believes the club has lost its defensive identity.

"We don't need to score a lot of goals to win games," he said. "The way we've always tried to win is to be really good defensively."

"We're definitely forcing the offense at the wrong areas and at the wrong times, and it's backfiring, and we're not playing tight enough defensively. With that combination it's a recipe for disaster, and that's kind of what happened."

The Bruins hold third place in the Atlantic Division, but the Tampa Bay Lightning are only one point behind with five games in hand. The Eastern Conference wild-card race currently includes nine teams within seven points of the final playoff spot.