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Boston Bruins fans should be especially thankful this Thanksgiving

By jc

MONTREAL, QC - NOVEMBER 26: Goaltender Jaroslav Halak #41 of the Boston Bruins celebrates a victory with teammates David Pastrnak #88, Anders Bjork #10 and Matt Grzelcyk #48 against the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre on November 26, 2019 in Montreal, Canada. The Boston Bruins defeated the Montreal Canadiens 8-1. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QC - NOVEMBER 26: Goaltender Jaroslav Halak #41 of the Boston Bruins celebrates a victory with teammates David Pastrnak #88, Anders Bjork #10 and Matt Grzelcyk #48 against the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre on November 26, 2019 in Montreal, Canada. The Boston Bruins defeated the Montreal Canadiens 8-1. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /
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BOSTON, MA – NOVEMBER 23: Zdeno Chara #33 of the Boston Bruins watches the play with Ryan Hartman #38 of the Minnesota Wild at the TD Garden on November 23, 2019 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Brian Babineau/NHLI via Getty Images) /

Boston boasts a strong defense

The hallmark of a great team is usually its defense. While the offense gets a ton of the credit, the Bruins defense is more than capable.

Boston only conceded 61 goals in its 24 games this season. That’s the third-best mark in the NHL.

Much of this is the product of goaltending (which we’ll get to later), but a lot has to do with Boston’s defense.

The Bruins currently feature six NHL defensemen on the roster; seven if we include Steven Kampfer and his 204 games of NHL experience.

When everybody’s healthy, that number jumps to nine. Boston will have some tough decisions with guys like Connor Clifton, but those are good problems to have.

If you look at the Bruins defense right now, there aren’t too many weaknesses. Zdeno Chara continues to defy time, and still can shut down top forwards on a nightly basis.

Torey Krug remains one of the best offensive-defenseman in the league, as he has 18 points in 19 games. The Bruins hope to sign him to an extension soon.

The only negative with the defense right is Charlie McAvoy‘s offense. McAvoy still doesn’t have a goal this season, but that’s not really a big deal yet.

Don’t forget about young players like Urho Vaakanainen, who saw some NHL action earlier this month. He looks like a big part of the future in Boston.

The Bruins have a deep and well-rounded group of defensemen, all of whom get to play in front of elite goaltenders.

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