The Boston Bruins just wrapped up their three-game West Coast road trip. Their stops included the Vegas Golden Knights, the Colorado Avalanche, and the Utah Mammoth. To say it was a bit of a disappointment in terms of points was an understatement. The Bruins went 0-3 on the road trip and now sit at 3-4 overall on the season.
The Good
Some good points were made on the road trip. The bottom six forwards were the big shining spot for all three games. They were the ones who got the Bruins within one goal of the Vegas Golden Knights after trailing 6-3 going into the third period. The bottom six during that game were Tanner Jeannot, Fraser Minten, Michael Eyssimont, Jeffrey Viel, Sean Kuraly, and Mark Kastelic. The Bruins scored more goals in this game alone compared to their only three goals combined in the next two games.
During the second game against the Avalanche, Marco Sturm benched David Pastrnak for the last eight minutes of the game. Well, they seemed to fire up the top scorer for the Bruins, as he came back and scored the two goals for the Bruins against the Mammoth. Sturm put out that he was not pleased with the play of his top guys, and Pastrnak responded in just the way Sturm wanted.
The Bad
When your best players and goal scorers are coming from the bottom six of the line-up, most people would see that as a problem. The Bruins see it the same way, and Marco Sturm is holding players accountable. He benched Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha in the game against the Avalanche during the last period, and then scratched Casey Mittelstadt in the game against the Mammoth, as he has not recorded a single shot on goal in either of the other two games on the road trip.
The Bruins only scored eight goals on the road trip, five, one, and two at their respective location. Pastrnak scored three of the eight for the Bruins, Jeremy Beecher scored the single goal against the Avalanche, and 4 other Bruins scored against the Golden Knights. They had scored 13 in their first 4 games, averaging 3 goals a game.
The Ugly
During their 3-0 start to the season, the Bruins had only allowed five goals before the defense hit a rough patch, and have since allowed 17 goals in the four-game losing streak. While they did score five goals in the game against the Golden Nights, the team only scored one against the Avalanche and two against the Mammoth. While the goaltending has been decent from both Jeremy Swayman and Joonas Korpisalo, letting up 17 goals while only scoring 11 is not going to win hockey games.
The Bruins as a whole had just 14 shots on goal on Saturday against the Avalanche, while Swayman was peppered by shots the whole evening. The Bruins were constantly in their own zone during the entire road trip, and turnovers and giveaways were a major sour point for the entire three games.
What's Next?
The Bruins return home for a three-game homestead against the Florida Panthers, Anaheim Ducks, and Avalanche. The Bruins are 3-1 at home this season, which bodes well for the home stead, as well as having 13 goals on home ice, which will hopefully open up the scoring once again. The Bruins will need to step up their game if they hope to gain some momentum and get back in the win column, as well as some points, in a condensed first half of the season with the two-week break due to the Olympics coming faster than it seems.