Boston Bruins head coach Marco Sturm has his team firing on all cylinders for the most part, but there is still one area where the roster needs to improve. The team likes to take penalties and question why they get them, as does every other hockey player in the sport's history, but most of the time it is simply undisciplined play.
The Bruins took seven penalties in Saturday night's win over the San Jose Sharks, and at least five, maybe six, were avoidable. All three slashing penalties by Morgan Geekie, Nikita Zadorov, and Elias Lindholm were blatant chops near the hands, with Geekie's being the only one where you could argue that, if he hadn't done it, the Sharks would've had a clear shot on net.
Then there was Fraser Minten's tripping penalty, where he skated himself into the corner and then reached into the defenseman's skates after losing the puck. Mark Kastelic's boarding penalty and subsequent fight were awesome, and it ended up being five-on-five, but the hit was a bit reckless. We'll give him a pass for trying to change the momentum, but the Bruins were lucky they didn't have to kill another penalty after it.
James Hagens and David Pastrnak's tripping penalties were a bit soft, with Hagens taking down Jacob Trouba right after Minten's goal to make it 5-3 off a neutral-zone faceoff. Pastrnak's trip came from being flat-footed in the defensive zone, but the Sharks' player went down a bit easier than you'd like to see.
Bruins' undisciplined play could undermine their five-on-five dominance
Nevertheless, the Bruins have been so dominant at five-on-five that you don't want to see them taking as many penalties. If this game hadn't been so penalty-filled, the Bruins would've run away with it, but San Jose kept it close by giving their talented youngsters powerplay chances.
The Bruins delivered a beatdown at 5-on-5 play tonight.
— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) October 25, 2026
They had a 30-8 edge in scoring chances, and a 18-4 edge in high-danger chances. https://t.co/2nJWs4tAxU pic.twitter.com/xeASxqV28H
Sturm tried to set an example by benching Zadorov last week for taking needless penalties, and it worked for the most part. Other players haven't been taking penalties at Zadorov's rate, so we shouldn't expect any discipline yet, but the team as a whole has to stay out of the penalty box for these needless infractions.
The Bruins rank 19th in the league in penalty killing and fifth in the league with 3.92 minor penalties per game. If their special teams were better, you could accept the parade to the penalty box, but until they figure out the penalty kill, the best solution is to be a bit more disciplined. They are too good at five-on-five to keep letting this happen.
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