When the Boston Bruins made a bunch of changes in the offseason, there were a lot of questions looming over them. Predictions on how a team, or player on a team, will do are either positive or negative. If enough predictions go into the positive during the season, chances are hat that team is going to be successful.
Puck Prose
Lately, most of the new players, and players with questionable performances last year, have shown that those who believed in them to produce were right. The team that the Boston Bruins management chose to stick with after training camp has proven to be ready for the challenge this year. Every line and every player has had something positive to show their management since puck drop on opening night.
The point leaders, David Krejci (12 points), Patrice Bergeron (8 points) and Loui Eriksson (7 points) are doing their job, but what is even more impressive is the amount of points spread across the entire team. Zac Rinaldo is the only Boston Bruins player, excluding healthy scratches and injured players, to not have registered a point yet. Everyone else has something to show for the their first seven games. Also, twelve of the fourteen Boston Bruins forwards that have played this season have all scored at least one goal.
Oct 21, 2015; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Bruins center Patrice Bergeron (37), who
One of the biggest reasons why the Bruins have all been able to put the puck in the net is the ability for Claude Julien to juggle the lines at any given moment without risking any lack of chemistry or execution. Loui Eriksson, Brett Connolly, Chris Kelly, Ryan Spooner and Zac Rinaldo have all been moved around throughout these first regular season games to adjust to any injuries or performance issues. These switches, along with the healthy scratches choices have triggered players to produce and has resulted in a Bruins teams that has yet to score less than two goals in a hockey game.
Oct 17, 2015; Glendale, AZ, USA; Boston Bruins right wing Tyler Randell (64) celebrates with center Zac Rinaldo (36) after scoring a goal in the second period against the Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports
What makes this season so interesting thus far is the notion that everything the Bruins use to struggle at has turned into a strength. Unfortunately, at the same time, all of the Bruins strengths in the past have turned into weaknesses. It can be argued that the three most noticeable traits of the Boston Bruins in the last few years has been their excellent defensive play, their superb goaltending, and their solid penalty kill.
The one positive that we can take from the Bruins struggling with what they are usually good at is the believe that these qualities will soon return to normal form. If that becomes the case, then the Bruins could truly turn into a formidable team this year. Tuukka Rask is too competitive to continuously perform at his current level and the Bruins penalty killers have actually been doing a good job for the most part.
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The biggest factor will be the defense, both the young inexperienced players and the older players who need to return to form. It is highly unlikely that this season’s defense will be a strong part of the Boston Bruins team. However, if Tuukka Rask and the back checking forwards can help out, like they usually do, the high goals against issue should go away. With Dennis Seidenberg eventually returning from injury and Zach Trotman still waiting for his chance, only time will tell on how this defense will turn out.
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