We are one game past the midway point of the 2024-25 season for the Boston Bruins. Sitting in third place in the Atlantic Division, the jury is still out on whether or not they will make the Stanley Cup Playoffs this spring. It has certainly been an up-and-down season to date. Since dropping the puck on opening night, the Bruins have fired Jim Montgomery and named Joe Sacco the interim coach, and while they have improved under their new bench boss, there is still a lot of work to do.
The Bruins dropped game No. 42 on Sunday night at the TD Garden, 5-4, in overtime to the struggling New York Islanders. As has been the case often this season, they were their own worst enemy with breakdowns all over the ice. Here are three things we’ve learned about the Black and Gold just past the midway points of the season.
Bruins desperately need goal-scoring
Losing Jake DeBrusk is a bigger loss than people think. Boston has struggled to score consistently and that was never more evident than in back-to-back losses to the Washington Capitals and New York Rangers last week. One goal in each game with a ton of chances. Boston has made several goalies look Vezina Trophy-worthy this season.
Just how the front office goes about getting that help needed for the club remains to be seen. Claiming Oliver Wahlstrom from the New York Islanders isn’t going to be the answer and there are few trade assets that GM Don Sweeney has available, but it’s clear the answer to their goal-scoring issues is not currently on the roster.
The Bruins' inability to bring up prospects is head-scratching
It hasn’t been just this season, but aside from Mason Lohrei and Matthew Poitras, the Bruins have had a head-scratching approach to bringing up their prospects. This season Poitras broke camp but was sent down in November to the Providence Bruins in the American Hockey League (AHL) and has been down there since.
During his time down there, he made huge strides in his game and as he showed last season, he belongs in the NHL. Riding out Trent Frederic as the third-line center continues to be an odd decision rather than bringing up Poitras and letting him inject some new energy. Fabian Lysell made his long-awaited NHL debut on Dec. 28 and what happened on his first shift? He won a board battle that led to a Justin Brazeau goal. Give the kids a chance.
Special teams have been anything but special
Boston’s special teams this season have been anything but special. The penalty killing is overworked as the Black and Gold are one of the top penalty-taking teams in the league which wears on a player over a 60-minute game. As for the power play? It’s actually worse.
They rank at the bottom of the league with the man advantage and it isn’t much of an advantage. Zone entries, passing decisions, and lack of shots toward the goal are issues. To compound matters, they have given up five shorthanded goals, including one to the league’s worst penalty-killing unit, the Islanders on Sunday night.
If things stay status quo over the final 40 games, there’s a very good chance that the Bruins find themselves on the outside looking in. That would be a disappointment and that would fall nowhere else than on the shoulders of the front office.