Boston goalie Jeremy Swayman, right, reacts after Dallas center Logan Stankoven celebrates his goal during a 5-2 win over the Bruins on Thursday night. Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald

The sight was a tad unusual at the start of Bruins’ practice at Warrior Ice Arena on Friday following their third straight loss.

The first people on the ice were the five coaches, who casually skated around for about five minutes, flipping pucks into the net while the players remained out of sight. Considering the situation in which the team finds itself – 3-4-1 and not playing like a playoff team, never mind a Stanley Cup contender – it had all the makings of the ol’ reliable “players-only” meeting.

Captain Brad Marchand said that didn’t happen, saying that, among other things, they had a routine meeting with NHL security.

“No, we just had a lot of stuff to do,” said Marchand.

OK, fine. But when the players did hit the ice, the practice was full of vim and vigor and physicality, the kind of session that you would hope might take place after three mistake-filled losses.

“I thought we had a really good practice. Our biggest thing is our details and we focused on that today,” said Marchand. “We tried to be smart, the way we played with the puck and how we work. We did a really good job with that today, a really good tempo. Guys were focused and sharp so it was a good day. But it’s one day and we’ve got to build on that and be better each day and we need that consistency.”

The chatter level on the ice was noticeably elevated, and Marchand said that was no accident.

“It’s something we’ve been talking about for a little while now,” said the captain. “The more you can communicate on breakouts and on forechecks, the easier you’re going to make it for each other. Part of having a lot of new guys two years in a row is building that chemistry again and the more you talk, the easier it is. It’s definitely something we talked about, not just today but in previous days. Again, it’s something you build every single day and it becomes a habit. The more you do it, the better you get out of it.”

Coach Jim Montgomery was more concerned with the general energy level than the communication.

“I think part of the Bruins’ culture is that we do communicate, top to bottom and bottom up,” said Montgomery. “I think the energy level, in what we’ve been missing in practice and in games, is something we talked about and it’s nice to see the players have some more energy and have some smiles on their face and enjoying scoring goals in practice and making big saves.”

The Bruins arrived home in the early morning hours on Wednesday from their three-game road trip and got right back at it in Thursday’s loss to the Dallas Stars. The sports science being what it is these days, Friday might have been a day that Marchand would have kept his 36-year-old body off the ice. But certain situations dictate another course of action.

“When things aren’t going the way you want them to, the only way to get out of it is to work. You need to do it together as a group,” said Marchand. “When you’re missing guys, sometime it’s a little bit tougher to have the chemistry you need and have everyone pull through it together. When you go through adversity, you want to go through it as a group and come out of it as a group. It is great to be out there working through it as a team. It’s how you bond. When you go through tough times, that’s when the character comes out in your group. We’re seeing it right now. Guys had energy today, I liked our attitude. But again, it’s about doing it every day and not just one day. Something to build on.”

The physicality was noticeable, too. At one point, Marchand and Charlie McAvoy had a scary collision in a high-tempo two-on-two. That’s part of the business.

“It’s part of your job to be prepared when you go into practice and you’re not lollygagging through,” said Marchand. “We’re going to compete, we’re going to be physical and we’re going to play hard. You’ve got be ready to hit and be ready to get hit. So I think there’s as much onus on the guy who’s getting hit as the guy who’s giving it. You’re not trying to get at guys’ heads or knees but part of playing detailed and playing our game is to be physical. That starts in practice.”

The things that are ailing the Bruins right now are more macro than micro. Not one line change will fix them. But Montgomery did have an interesting tweak, putting Matt Poitras up on right wing to play with Marchand and Charlie Coyle. What can he bring to the line?

“His patience and the way he makes plays,” said Marchand. “He dogs the puck. (Thursday) night was a great example of that. He’s been really good lately down low and retrieving pucks and giving good second and third efforts. I think that can complement our line really well.”

We’ll see if it works. Not much has in this young season. The opponent Saturday night has been a team that has tended to cure a lot of the Bruins ills over the last decade, the Toronto Maple Leafs. But there are only so many Game 7 losses a team can take before it says enough. The Leafs should be ready to play. The Bruins better be, too.

NOTES: Searching for the right line combinations, Montgomery chose to finally break up the so-called fourth line, moving Cole Koepke up to the Charlie Coyle-Trent Frederic line. Justin Brazeau drew back in on the line with Mark Kastelic and John Beecher. “It is hard but sometimes you need different dynamics on a line. That line’s been playing extremely well. We’re going to leave two of them together and bring along somebody else with them and then Koepke can add speed to another line,” said Montgomery. … In a move that was somewhat anticipated, the Bruins placed Riley Tufte on waivers. Whether he clears or not, Tufte’s $775,000 salary cap hit should be enough to allow the Bruins to sign veteran Tyler Johnson, who has remained with the Bruins since he came to camp on a tryout contract.