If you thought the Boston Bruins starting out the season undefeated both at home and on the road was impressive, try on for size them winning their first six games of the season for the first time since the 1937-38 season, their only other time in franchise history.
While the competition may not have been steep, with only one out of their first five opponents being a playoff contender the season before, the Bruins showed they weren’t letting last season’s surge of wins become a President’s Trophy-winning season hangover that carried into this season.
Boston did so by only allowing two goals in a game twice: against the Nashville Predators at home, and against the Los Angeles Kings at the Crypto.com Arena.
Going into the season, they had question marks at first and second line center when they lost both Patrice Bergeron, and David Krejci to retirement. Those questions have been quickly answered by the playoff both Pavel Zacha and 19-year-old phenom Matthew Poitras.
While Zacha had merely tacked an assist on his total so far before scoring on a tip-in Tuesday night, Poitras made in three goals in his first six NHL goals when he scored Tuesday in Chicago.
THE KID CAN FLY 💨 pic.twitter.com/vI2wCXWhYA
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) October 25, 2023
Offense wasn’t the only thing excelling on the trip
On the other side of things for the Bruins, have been scrutinized both throughout the offseason and even into the season by the likes of Jermaine Wiggins of WEEI and others saying that they need to get more scoring before becoming complacent with their goaltending.
However, their goaltending is what held them together in this game, and in speaking with the Greg Hill Show this morning, ESPN’s Sean McDonough said he wouldn’t break the goaltending tandem up just yet because they’re playing so well together.
Both Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman have the capability to be a starter on any team at this given moment, but breaking them up would be a mistake. After all, they are still the most well set-up team at this position in the league.
Adding to McDonough’s points, just going based off of the numbers, they are BOTH in the top five of the league. Ullmark is tied for second in the league Goals Against Average (1.00), and Swayman is ranked fourth (1.34).
What’s next for the Bruins?
Boston’s next game is at home on Thursday, when they take on the Anaheim Ducks – the team that Poitras scored his two NHL goals against. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. and will be televised nationally on ESPN+ and locally on NESN.