The Boston Bruins' first scrimmage of training camp confirmed some of the predictions about the team this season. Mind you, it was the first game for these players after just starting on-ice sessions on Wednesday, but there will always be some reactions no matter what. How fans should feel about this scrimmage rests on whether you look at things with a glass-half-full or glass-half-empty viewpoint.
If you're a glass-half-empty person, the first scrimmage will confirm all your fears about the lack of scoring depth this season. The Bruins ran a 30-minute game in the middle of the Group A and Group B practices, and neither team was able to score. It also took a few rounds before Pavel Zacha finally won the game for his group in the shootout.
If you're a glass-half-full person, the absence of goal-scoring could be a good sign for the defensive future of the team this season. We are all aware that it's going to take some heroic efforts from the defense and goaltending to win games, and both defense cores on the respective scrimmage teams standing strong for 30 minutes is a good sign, regardless of the scoring talent on each roster.
Keep in mind that Marco Sturm is still in the middle of instituting a new system, and David Pastrnak still isn't skating as he tries to shake off his tendinitis issues. We can't expect Pastrnak to be the only player generating offense this season, but his presence in this scrimmage might've opened the game up slightly.
Sturm also hasn't found a concrete answer for his line combinations. He still has most of his group in the blender, and it showed on Saturday afternoon with alot of the lines failing to connect on some scoring plays. The new head coach's vision for the roster is still developing and is far from the final product we'll see on October 8th.
The actual worry could come if a veteran-heavy lineup for the team's first preseason game on Sunday fails to generate much offense, even though I'd still be in the camp of not panicking too much until the season actually begins.