After all, the Boston Bruins are people.The Bruins appeared to have started this season without missing a beat, even though it hasn’t had the same enchanted, storybook atmosphere as the NHL record-breaking 2022–2023 season. However, they have returned to Earth throughout the last month.
The Bruins’ Rapid Fire
With a winning record of six games to start the season, the Bruins allowed two goals or fewer in each of those games. They managed to get at least one point out of their first 10 games, until being given their first regulation loss of the season in Game 11 versus the Detroit Red Wings.
In the third period of that match, Boston gave up three goals in a four-minute period. The Bruins lost to the Red Wings 6-4-1, after David Pastrnak’s power play goal late in the game failed to even the score.
Boston put an end to the situation by winning 3-2 against the Dallas Stars and 5-2 against the New York Islanders, improving their record to an outstanding 11-1-1. They started the season with a 14-1-3 record after going 3-0-2 in their opening five games.
Brad Marchand and Pastrnak were playing at their peak, just what the squad needed and wanted. The final two lines were being filled by centers Pavel Zacha and Charlie Coyle. Two rookie centers vying for a spot on the NHL squad were Matt Poitras and John Beecher.
The Bruins had a wealth of depth defensemen to rotate through the bottom pair, and Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm demonstrated that the defense was secure in their hands. In addition to maintaining their supremacy, Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark never stopped giving goalie hugs that were contagious.
Although the Bruins’ 16-2-0 start to the 2022–23 season did not result in them setting a new NHL record for the most victories in a season (65), they were very close to doing so, needing just two of those OT losses to fall short of the record. However, any team would be happy with a 14-1-3 start, particularly the Bruins this year.
As the Bruins entered the 2023–24 season, many were unsure of what to expect given the departures of Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci and the impressive mid-season arrivals of Tyler Bertuzzi and Dmitri Orlov. Prospects for the playoffs? Cup contenders? They were viewed by many critics as being on the verge of missing the playoffs or barely making them thanks to a wild card slot Others had them higher up in the division, very few had them as favorites.
However, after 18 games, the Bruins had amassed 31 points, making them the NHL’s greatest team.
The Plow
The Bruins went into a three-game slump after their 14th win of the season against the Florida Panthers: a 5-2 defeat to the Red Wings, a 7-4 loss to the New York Rangers, and a 5-2 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets left Boston perplexed. They recovered, defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs, San Jose Sharks, and the Blue Jackets three times in a row.
From that point on, the games have been “every-other”: a shootout victory over the New York Islanders, a defeat in overtime to the New Jersey Devils, a win against the Arizona Coyotes, and a loss in overtime to the New York Rangers.
A few defensive blunders were made; they gave up too many turnovers that resulted in odd-man rushes and were unable to finish games when their opponents withdrew their goalie. Additionally, in a few games, it felt like they were outplayed.
The Rangers and Devils overtime losses were especially concerning. Despite having numerous opportunities, the Bruins were unable to finish these games. With 43 even points, the Rangers are currently the top Eastern Conference rival of the Bruins. Even though the Devils are now just edging into the wild-card berth, they still appear like a playoff team despite being fifth in the Metropolitan Division. They might still be a pain in the side for the Bruins.
Injuries have reared their ugly heads too, but since Nov. 24, poor play has seen the Bruins go 5-4-2. That’s not playoff pace.
Bruins 2023–24 Scoring Leaders: Let’s examine the Bruins offensive leaders 29 games into the 2023–24 season. David Pastrnak has scored 17 goals and disheveled 24 assists for a total of 41 points in 29 games this season; at this rate, he will have scored 47 goals, 67 assists, and 114 points by the end of the regular season. During the season’s 14–1-3 explosion, he managed to string together seven games of points (plus a four-game streak to begin the year, followed by a three-game streak). Despite his point streaks ending, No. 88 hasn’t shown many weaknesses; even though they haven’t continued, he has been on the scoresheet most of the time.
Brad Marchand has collected 26 points from 12 goals and 14 assists. At the beginning of the year, I felt that Marchand lacked a lot of personality and was somewhat quiet. About 20 games into the season, I noticed he was a point-per-game guy when I looked at his posture.
However, I believe there might be some truth to that silence. Even though Coyle and Zacha did a decent job, Pastrnak’s show-stealing performances and the central narrative overwhelmed him. In addition, there have been the narratives of the new characters, like Poitras, Beecher, and James van Riemsdyk.
Regarding van Riemsdyk, after 28 games, he has six goals and 14 assists, good for fourth place on the squad in point production. The power play has resulted in five of those assists and four of them goals.
With 10 goals and 11 assists in 29 games, Coyle has more points than him in third place. After being confined to either a bottom-six center or second-line winger the previous season, it appears Coyle is living up to his $5.25 million cap hit. However, it’s difficult to unseat franchise legends Bergeron and Krejci at the top of the center position.
To stay on topic, Zacha has contributed 11 assists and 8 goals in 26 games. McAvoy follows him with three goals and fourteen assists on the blue line. The two key members of the team’s core are currently listed as injured.
Hold off on panicking just yet.
A team frequently finds itself in a hole they have to dig themselves out of when they face a stretch that is below.500. The Bruins built a mountain for themselves in their flawless first eighteen games. With 43 points, they are level with the Rangers atop the Eastern Conference and continue to lead the Atlantic Division.
So, while there’s no hole to dig out of, continuing at their recent pace for another 10 or 11-game stretch could lead to one.
The Bruins need to return to their winning ways if they want to maintain their status as a top contender to take the conference. Otherwise, they could find themselves in a situation where their final games of the regular season feel more like the playoffs
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