Boston Bruins: How They Fare so Far

The Boston Bruins have been ripping it up since November, and while they seem to have slowed down somewhat, there have been some factors that came into play.

There is no real "superstar" on the roster.  Sure, Tim Thomas has been on fire, and so has Tuukka Rask, who makes up one of the top goaltender tandems in the league.  Because they are both great goaltenders, they give each other a break, and you don't see a wear-down of the starting goaltender.

Standings

To date, the Bruins are 30-13-1 after the late surge on the New Jersey Devils last night, which puts them at second in the Eastern Conference (one point behind the New York Rangers) and fifth in the league (two points behind the Detroit Red Wings and one point behind the Rangers, the St Louis Blues and the Chicago Blackhawks).  

Only the Red Wings have more wins, but the Bruins have 3 games on hand.

Team Stats

The Bruins have been lighting the lamp, but it took the second month of the season to get their game going.  To date, they have averaged 3.45 goals per game and that is tops in the league. Currently, they are second in the league, allowing only 2 goals per game on average.  

But the success of the Bruins this season is not because they are tops in every category.  The word that best describes the Bruins success is "balanced."

When this team plays a disciplined game, they limit the chances of their opponents, as they allow only 1.87 goals per game.  With that kind of goaltending and defensive puck support, it makes for a difficult game for their opponents.

Physical Play

For decades, the Boston Bruins played one way.  Hard.  The physical style that they bring to the game has been known for a long time, and they don't seem to want to get away from that despite the many faces that have come and gone over the years.

Boston's defensive core are not afraid to drop the gloves when the time calls for it.  Even the offensive guys are willing to go.  So far, there have been 32 fights involving a Bruin this year.  Last year, they had 71.

In short, don't get hit...do the hitting. You're less likely to get hurt that way...

Depth

The team has proven that not only do they have a good team, but they have the necessary tools to plug up the holes should they arise.

The Providence Bruins have proven to be an effective farm team, and a lot of these players are ready to take on an NHL role should it be deemed necessary.

All four lines are more than capable to score, and that has shown that they can attack at all times.

Health

The Bruins have been fortunate.  VERY fortunate.  The injury list for the Black and Gold has been hardly Black and Blue.

In the 44-game season thus far, the most amount of time missed by a regular is six games.

Brad Marchand is among those with six games missed, but would be de facto because he served a five-game suspension due to the clipping charge.

Six did not miss a game this season, three missed one, two missed two and...well, you get the point.

If the Bruins can stay in this health streak, they have a good shot at winning some more games and possibly rest some players if they can find themselves in a comfortable position in the standings down the stretch.

With All That Said...

The rest of the season will not be easy.  From here on out, their schedule will be busy...and that is putting it mildly.

After this month, they will have seven back-to-back games, and there will be no more three-day breaks in between games.  For the month of March, there will be only one two-day break between games, and the rest are filled with game-break-game and some back-to-back action.

The Bruins have surprised even myself to a point.  I was shocked at the start somewhat, as it was an abysmal 4-7-0 October.  But when Novmber was over, and with the success they had in December, I was pleasantly surprised to see the Stanley Cup champions kick it in a gear that has them high in the standings.

I only say somewhat because the team was largely intact at the beginning of the season, so I had a feeling that they would do well, but October nearly put the brakes on that.

Will the Bruins repeat?  Who knows?  Only time and games will tell.

This is Cory Ducey saying "Hit Hard, But Keep It Clean".