No one expected the Boston Bruins to be 3-2-0 to start the 2025-26 season. However, a recent two-game losing streak has put the team in an interesting position. The offense has been operating at a higher rate than anyone thought, but it is coming at the sacrifice of their defensive structure. The Bruins have 18 goals through the first five games, while allowing 16.
One thing has become clear after watching Thursday night's game against the Vegas Golden Knights. The only way the Bruins can score five goals against a team of that caliber is if they have to sell out in an attempt to create offense. It worked against Vegas with the five goals from the bottom six. Still, there were also some ugly goals against from defensive breakdowns, namely the power-play marker from William Karlsson in the third period when Tanner Jeannot and Henri Jokiharju allowed him to go to the net untouched.
Marco Sturm and the rest of the Bruins know that they can play better defense, but they've also been hearing from everyone all offseason that the team isn't going to score enough. If the team plays a more defensive-minded structure, they are going to go back to allowing two or three goals per game, but they simply don't have the horses to score enough to win with that strategy, either.
It leaves Sturm and the Bruins with a dilemma. Sell out for offense and risk allowing six goals like they did against the Golden Knights, or go into a defensive shell and risk losing games 3-2 and 2-1. Regardless of their choice, both avenues will result in the Bruins losing more games than they win. While the Bruins looked good during the first three games, the path to them missing the playoffs and finishing near the bottom of the league is starting to look more and more clear.
No one is arguing that the Bruins haven't been playing a fun brand of hockey over the first two weeks. It isn't quite as bad as we expected, but if they continue to pile up the losses, that won't matter. Bruins fans would love a middle ground that leads to exciting hockey and more wins, but that unfortunately seems like a bit of an outlandish wish.