As bad as things were at the start of the season for the Boston Bruins, they could be in a lot worse of a position during the three-day holiday break than they currently are. Sitting in third place in the Atlantic Division, they are on the heels of the Toronto Maple Leafs, while trying to fend off the Tampa Bay Lightning and Ottawa Senators.
Since GM Don Sweeney fired Jim Montgomery back in November, the Black and Gold have played better under interim coach Joe Sacco and they have moved up in the standings. You can't deny that they are playing better in all areas of the game over the last month, but that does tend to happen following a coaching change. It's just sports.
Is the 2024-25 version of the Boston Bruins good enough to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs? We will find out, but if there is one thing that we have learned recently, is that when they play their game, they can battle with anyone. With that said, here a three common misconceptions about the Bruins this season.
1. Bruins can't beat playoff calibar teams
Some fans and even some writers have made it a point to make everyone aware that the Bruins have struggled against teams in playoff positioning. That was the case under Montgomery, however, under Sacco, they have fared much better against teams in postseason positioning. Their most recent outing on Monday night was a 4-1 win over the Washington Capitals, one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference. I get it, the Caps didn't have Alex Ovechkin, but Boston lost David Pastrnak in the second period of a 1-1 game with an injury and found a way to grind out a win with three third-period goals.
On their recent five-game road trip, they picked up a 5-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks. They had an impressive win over the Colorado Avalanche on the road back in October and they also have an overtime win over the Toronto Maple Leafs. They are playing much better and if not for a late-game letdown against the Edmonton Oilers last week, they would have picked up a win over the defending Western Conference champs instead of losing in overtime. Hey, the loser points add up after a while.