The Boston Bruins took the ice on Oct. 27 for their 11th game of the season against the Ottawa Senators. The team came into the game after beating the Colorado Avalanche at home that ended a six-game losing streak. It was their first time facing off against their divisional rivals in the 2025-26 season.Â
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The Bruins were unfortunately unable to extend their win streak beyond the one game as they lost 7 – 2 to the Senators. With too many mistakes and a solid performance in net by Leevi Merilainen for Ottawa, Boston got themselves into a hole in the second period that they could not come back from.
Morgan Geekie Living up to New Contract
Morgan Geekie opened the scoring against the Senators, scoring within the first four minutes of the first period, and continuing his hot streak. The 27-year-old is now on a four-game goal scoring streak, and currently leads the team in goals. The first line of him, David Pastrnak, and Elias Lindholm has been a bright spot in the early games of this season.Â
Geekie’s start to the 2025-26 season has been a huge step up from the rough beginning he had to the 2024-25 season that saw him a healthy scratch in five of Bruins’ first 20 games. He eventually turned it around, bouncing back from his slow start to reach 30 goals for the first time in his NHL career and earned himself a six-year extension with an average annual value (AAV) of $5.5 million.
Morgan Geekie, Boston Bruins (Winslow Townson-Imagn Images)
Through the start of the season, Geekie has certainly more than earned that contract extension and that was on display against the Senators. Besides his opening goal, he also had several additional shots and was a consistent presence on the ice. In total, he currently has seven goals and nine points in 11 games, putting him on pace for 50 goals this season if he can maintain this scoring clip.
Bruins Are Their Own Worst Enemy
Penalties have been a consistent issue for the Bruins through the start of the season, and that was on full display against the Senators. In the first period, both Mikey Eyssimont and Mark Kastelic took minor penalties, the first leading to a goal by Drake Batherson to tie the game up a few minutes before intermission. In the third period, Charlie McAvoy took two penalties that both led to goals by Ottawa. Overall, Boston allowed four power play goals.
Outside of taking too penalties, this game had many other moments where the Bruins didn’t do themselves any favors. They had a bad changes that gave the Senators breakaways, lapsed coverage in their own zone, struggles to clear the puck, sloppy passes, and in the second period, it took them nine minutes to get their first shot off. These are all little things, but they start to add up and so far in this early season, are proving to be difference makers in close games. They can’t score if they’re not shooting, can’t give Jeremy Swayman a chance to make a save if they’re giving opponents too many breakaways, and aren’t doing themselves any favors when they’re playing a man down on the penalty kill.Â
Despite what the final score may indicate, the Bruins didn’t look completely awful against the Senators (at least until the third period). But the difference maker between winning and losing teams is not making the little mistakes. Right now, that is one of the things the team is struggling to do and it shows in their 4 – 7 – 0 record.
Hampus Lindholm’s Absence Felt
The Bruins continue to feel the absence of Hampus Lindholm on the blue line as he’s missed seven of the last eight games with a lower body injury. He continues to be listed as day-to-day as both camps seem to be cautious with bringing him back. He missed the majority of last season with a broken knee cap, and his absence was heavily felt by the team in 2024-25. His return was a big factor for the defense this season and clearly something GM Don Sweeney was counting on given that they made no big change to the blue line despite an overall disappointing performance last season.
Hampus Lindholm, Boston Bruins (Jess Starr/The Hockey Writers)
Defense was once again an issue for the Bruins against the Senators as they had multiple defensive zone turnovers and mistakes that led to opportunities and goals for Ottawa. Lindholm may have not been a big enough difference maker to help the team win this matchup, but it certainly wouldn’t have hurt to have him on the ice, especially on a night when McAvoy is not playing his best. The more he’s absent, the more clear it becomes how much weaker the blue line is without him.
Finding the Spark
On paper, the Bruins don’t look quite as bad as their record may indicate. Swayman has a .910 save percentage. The team has one of the best faceoff win percentages in the league thanks to really strong performances by Elias Lindholm and Pavel Zacha. They have had 15 different goalscorers so far and have been getting a decent amount of depth scoring help.Â
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But watching them against the Senators, they just felt like something was missing. Discipline is certainly something they need to continue to work on with taking less penalties and being more responsible in their own zone. Beyond that though, the team is missing a spark on the ice. Lackluster is one word that comes to mind after this matchup, which is concerning to see this early in a season, even if things are bit more condensed due to the Winter Olympics.
The frustration was clear amongst the Bruins’ roster against the Senators, and now they have to turn right around and play against the New York Islanders. Hopefully they can shake this loss off and get themselves into a good, hopefully more disciplined, headspace for the next one.
