I decided to take a break from writing for a bit but now its time to get back in the saddle . Over that span the Bruins went 3 and 1 . With 3 straight wins 5-2 over the Devils , 5-2 over the Habs and 5-2 over the Flyers before losing to the Calgary Flames 4-0 . After the utter collapse on the 3rd period against the Oilers , the Bruins finally found some consistency and scoring. Beating the Flyers and the Devils were more impressive than the Habs because those 2 are over .500 . The Habs , well they are a disaster a mess with injuries and little offense . But when faced with a stingy and well disciplined team like the Flames , they struggled to find any real offense and mistakes on coverage combined with some weak rebound control , they were chasing the game from the get go and really not one player had anything going. The 4th line was their best that night and a few players had decent jump but the top guys , zip.
So as of right now 15 games in the Bruins find themselves at 9 wins 6 losses . That places them at 5th in the Atlantic but they have also played the fewest amount of games as well.
Is this record a reason for concern or is its a combination of the crazy lay offs and all the new players still not gelling yet? I hold its perhaps a bit of both. The new players coming in and then having extended breaks haven't helped this team gel or develop an identity at all . But at the same time many concerns are emerging.
The Bruins always were considered one of the best defensive minded teams in the NHL . But this year leaks are appearing. The Bruins usually were always in the top 10 and 5 teams in the league with goals allowed . This year after 15 they find themselves at 16 with 2.87 and a team goal-tending save percentage of a very mediocre .908 . Both concerning. It is all on the goaltending , no it isn't . The D coverage has been an adventure and players from Reilly, Forbort,Carlo,Grzelcyk , Clifton have all been inconsistent and the forwards have also been an adventure at times with turn overs and poor decision making. Plus lets be honest , its a tall ask for Ulmark and Swayman to replace a top 5 all-time goalie in Tuukka Rask, who was one of the best at high difficulty saves as well , something neither Swayman or Ulmark are in the top of the league as of right now. So that needs to change and soon.
The offense has been sketchy at best and once again the top line is the driver of most of the scoring . We sit at 15th in the league with an average of 3 goals per game . But when the top players are figuring in most of the goals that is a recipe for disaster . The new players have not panned out so far and the 2nd line with Coyle at center for me is not really doing much most nights . Coyle is not an legit 2nd line center , Haula on the 3rd had one break out season and has looked very weak. The bottom line with this team again is , shutdown the top line , you'll probably win especially now with Krecji gone.
The PP and PK have been finding their games and we currently are around 10th in the league in both categories so that is a decent sign going forward.
Best players so far have been Charlie McAvoy , Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand . They have by far the most consistent and have led this team so far . We need more from Pasta who has only 5 goals on the year so far , Taylor Hall who has looked good at times but I think he is being held back by his line-mates , Carlo on the D who has struggled and has had more than a few bad outings.
So the grade I would give this team as of right now would be a C . Its as I see it right now a wildcard team at best . As I watch many top tier teams , in all honesty there is no way this team as it is playing at this momenta contender.
Tonight they take on Buffalo. A team reeling again. The Bruins need to get their offense going and bury them . Will see if that happens because at this point , one cannot predict what will happen with this team .
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