Causeway Crowd
Fansided

Boston Bruins: Grading the Bruins through five games

By jc

BOSTON, MA - OCTOBER 13: Tuukka Rask #40 of the Boston Bruins in the net against the New Jersey Devils at the TD Garden on October 13, 2019 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Steve Babineau/NHLI via Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA - OCTOBER 13: Tuukka Rask #40 of the Boston Bruins in the net against the New Jersey Devils at the TD Garden on October 13, 2019 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Steve Babineau/NHLI via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
4 of 4
Next
patrice bergeron bruins
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – OCTOBER 08: Patrice Bergeron #37 of the Boston Bruins controls the puck against Valentin Zykov #7 of the Vegas Golden Knights in the first period of their game at T-Mobile Arena on October 8, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Bruins defeated the Golden Knights 4-3. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /

Special teams: C+

Boston’s special teams units have been a mixed bag this year. Both the power play and penalty kill can certainly be better.

The Bruins power play units are pretty much the same as they were last year. Bergeron, Marchand, Pastrnak, DeBrusk, and Krug make up the top group.

At times, Boston’s top power play unit looks unstoppable. Bergeron’s second-period goal against the Devils is a great example. The Bruins moved the puck around effortlessly, DeBrusk wreaked havoc out front, and Bergeron scored on a rebound.

However, even with the top unit out there, the Bruins give up too many shorthanded chances. This was an issue last year, as Boston led the league in shorthanded goals conceded. They need to clean this up.

Boston’s penalty kill looked great in the home opener. Granted, the Devils entered the game with zero power play goals, but the Bruins did their job.

This wasn’t the case in the first four games. Boston only killed seven of the first 10 penalty kill opportunities. And if it wasn’t for big saves by Rask and Halak, this may have been worse.

Expect the Boston’s special teams play to be better sooner rather than later.

Next. Atlantic power rankings (week one). dark

The Bruins enjoyed a strong five-game stretch to start the season. They once again look like one of the best teams in the conference. Even with that, the Bruins still have plenty of opportunities to be better.

Home/Bruins News