First Quarter Report Card for the Boston Bruins

Nov 19, 2013; New York, NY, USA; Boston Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask (40) is congratulated by right wing Shawn Thornton (22), left wing Daniel Paille (20)after defeating the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. The Boston Bruins defeated the New York Rangers 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports

The Bruins have their up and downs every season, and this one is no exception. The Bruins haven’t been playing to their strengths too often this year, they’ve also been hard pressed to play a full sixty minute game. There have been nights where as fans we’ve been frustrated to watch them not play to their potential. So let’s take all that account as we look at the Black and Gold as they pass the quarter mark in the 2013-14 season.

The Bruins are 13-6-1(compared to 14-3-3 last season). With the rough way the Bruins have been playing, that’s rather remarkable. Maybe I am being a bit hard on the Bruins here. The Bruins have had a tendency to get themselves out of trouble in the clutch. (They also have a tendency to make us groan every time they have a two goal lead.)

The Bruins haven’t really been offensive powerhouses this season. They’ve been a little underpowered in scoring, putting up 2.8 goals a game this season.(That’s against a 2.9 last season.)

On the bright side, the Bruins are averaging a sub-two goals against average this season. At present, they give up 1.8 goals a game (as opposed a 2.2 last year). We can all be thankful for Tuukka Rask giving up a handful of two goal plus games this season. He’s been the brightest spot so far for Boston and has earned every bit of the Vezina buzz he’s already getting this early in the season.

While the power play hasn’t been explosive for the Bruins this year (19.2%), it has shown improvement over last year(15.9%), where we were suggesting that if the Bruins could decline penalties they should in order to improve their scoring chances.  Their penalty kill isn’t as strong as it was last year (87.5% as opposed to last year’s 91.6%), but the Bruins are among the league leaders playing with a man down.

Overall, the Bruins should be given a B/B- for their first quarter. They haven’t been playing to their full potential, but they’ve been getting the job done. Hopefully, the next twenty games will see the Bruins improve on their strengths.