Some upstart franchise called the Utah Hockey Club got the best of the Boston Bruins, and it did them no favors in what has, so far, been an up and down season. Fans aren’t used to this, having seen their team just unleash havoc on the league two seasons ago and for a significant portion of the 2023-24 campaign.
While it hasn’t happened yet, the Bruins are nowhere near a team that has lost its edge. Nope, they’re, in fact, far from it, if they simply start creating more scoring chances for themselves at 5-on-5. This is why I’d like to point to their meager 45.4 Corsi For Percentage, which, while not a problem last season despite being a low number, seems to be in 2024-25.
The good news is that the Bruins actual goals for sits at 13 on the season, at 5-on-5 and they boast an 11.0 shooting percentage. So can you imagine just how much better this team would be if they created more chances for themselves?
Chances are, they’d be crushing opponents left and right, and it would bring flashbacks to fans from what this team accomplished in 2022-23. Of course, they still need to figure out one division rival, but taking more shots and creating more chances would get them off to a good start.
Boston Bruins need to figure out how to wreak more havoc in offensive zone
Here are two more numbers that I have for you at 5-on-5: A scoring chances for percentage of 46.0 and just a 39.5 percent high-danger chances for percentage. That said, they’re also converting 10.5 percent of them into goals, and while that number is currently just four goals in 34 chances, it indicates what this team can do when their forwards are in sync.
This is the one portion of their game the Bruins must figure out, and if they do, they’ll become that nightmare for opponents once again. But after what we saw in their loss to the Utah Hockey Club, expect a good, but by no means great scoring team should they keep up that kind of play.
You may point to the fact that the Bruins, as of Monday, are ninth in the league in goals scored with 21 so far on the season. That is correct, so my retort would be this: Imagine how much better this team would be if they just figured out how to pressure opponents when they’re in the offensive zone.