When the Boston Bruins began the 2026-27 season, nobody knew what to expect from Marco Sturm's crew after what felt like an underwhelming offseason for general manager Don Sweeney. The biggest move was sending two first-round draft picks to the Utah Mammoth for forward JJ Peterka.
One question was whether or not the Bruins could be in the playoff race at the end of the season and make the postseason for the second season in a row. We are nine games into the season, and there are 75 more to go, but the Black and Gold are off to a 7-2-0 start after sweeping their California trip on Saturday night with a 4-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings.
For the second night in a row, the Bruins were tied 1-1 entering the third period, and for the second night in a row, they scored three goals for a 4-1 victory. They fell behind in the first minute of the game, but they did not allow another Los Angeles goal behind some stout play in front of goalie Jeremy Swayman, who made some big saves. After the game, first-year captain David Pastrnak dropped an eye-opening quote about the first nine games of the season.
David Pastrnak drops eye-opening quote about Bruins' young players
The Bruins are going to be playing tight games nearly every single night this season. Get used to it. It's what they're built for, and how last season went. If they are going to be a factor in the playoff race in the Eastern Conference and the Atlantic Division, they are going to need to win those types of games. Can it be done with younger players? Pastrnak thinks so.
"We are comfortable playing in those tight games, " said Pastrnak, per Belle Fraser of BostonBruins.com. "We are little bit more mature than last year, even though we have more younger guys, but they’ve been playing really well. They came up big for us many times. It’s just a certain calmness in the group."
They have come up big many times. Against Anaheim, James Hagens set up Matthew Poitras for an insurance goal against Anaheim on Friday night in the third period. Then, one night later against the Kings, Marat Khusnutdinov scored the game-winning goal when he poked home a loose puck in front of the net off a hustle play from Poitras.
92 cleans up the rebound 🧹 pic.twitter.com/hh0kRd6lPq
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) October 18, 2026
There needs to be a calmness in the group, led by the veterans, and now the young players are buying in. If that can happen all season long, then who knows how it will end. One thing is for sure: the injection of youth is nice to see,
Add us as a preferred source on Google