Boston Bruins best in the East at the one-third mark of the season.

Nov 29, 2013; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Bruins goalie

(40) makes a save during the first period against the New York Rangers at TD Banknorth Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports

Well, we’re one third through the season so far, and it can’t be said the Boston Bruins aren’t doing everything in their power to thrill us(and occasionally drive us to drink). With twenty seven games in the books, the Boston Bruins lead both the Atlantic Division and the Eastern Conference with a 18-7-2 record. We’ve seen the Bruins atop the leaderboards a lot these last few years, so that was no surprise to us. Seeing David Krejci as the leading point man, and Milan Lucic as our top scorer doesn’t really shock us much either. The Krejci line has been golden these last few years, and Jarome Iginla has proven a worthy successor to the slot once held by Nathan Horton.

There have been a few surprises for us though. Most of them good. After training camp, if you had argued that Reilly Smith and Torey Krug would be third and fourth in scoring you would have been seen as insane. There they are though. Reilly Smith did great work early as he vacillated between the Bruins second and third lines. Now, he seems ensconced on the Chris Kelly line, and he’s done an outstanding job on the wing there with Carl Soderberg. Torey Krug is on pace for a fifty point rookie season and he leads all defensemen in goals. We’re seeing shades of #4 in #47 in Boston.

Tuukka Rask has started twenty two of twenty seven games for the Black and Gold. That’s a marathon pace for any goaltender, and Tuukka Rask has been up to the task this season. He has been the hardest working player for Boston so far, and he’s silenced all the critics these last two years. He’s more than a worthy inheritor of the crease given up by Tim Thomas and is on track to be one of the greatest Bruins goaltenders of all time. He’s 14-6-2. He’s still a sub-two goal net minder (1.90 GAA), and is pulling off an outstanding .935 save percentage.

The Bruins have only experienced one blow out loss this season, and have handed out severe drubbings to many teams in the league. The Bruins have not lost more than two games in a row, and have always bounced back from adversity. They have played to the Claude Julien system. While they have certainly not followed it perfectly, their consistency has been enough to propel them to the top of the conference.