Boston Bruins: Should we be worried about results past regulation?
The second half of the NHL season is underway, and while the Boston Bruins currently sit atop of the Atlantic Division standings, there seems to be plenty of reason to be concerned about the state of the team.
Despite some recent struggles, the Boston Bruins have had a very successful season to date. David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand are both near the top of league scoring, while Pastrnak leads the league with 37 goals.
They sit atop of the Atlantic Division with a record of 28-10-12 and are ahead of the next closest team, the Tampa Bay Lightning, by six points.
The Bruins have had a tough time holding onto leads lately, and as a result, are finding themselves playing in overtime fairly regularly. Despite their talent, the Bruins have struggled with the extra ice in 3-on-3, and have been snake-bitten when it comes to finding the back of the net in shootouts.
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They already have more overtime and shoot-out losses than they did all of last season and have yet to win a shootout in seven opportunities. Their 12 losses beyond regulation are the most in the league this season, and only five teams had 12 or more overtime losses last season.
Overall, the Bruins are 3-12 in games that go beyond regulation, but 0-7 in shootouts so far this year. So is this a reason to worry? Yes, and no.
The Boston Bruins are losing their lead in the standings because they can’t find a way to finish off games. Their strong start has allowed them to survive a few hiccups over the last month or so, but the Lightning have been red-hot as of late and are within striking distance of that top spot in the division.
The Bruins are missing out on some valuable points and are making the remainder of their regular season a bit more difficult than most would like. Despite this, there is still reason to stay positive.
Mainly because playoff overtime is still 5-on-5 and there are no shootouts to worry about. With the talent that the Bruins have, it seems like it is only a matter of time until they find their stride in overtime.
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Hopefully, Marchand’s shootout mishap against the Flyers can be a turning point for the Bruins this season, because it can’t really get much worse than that.