What Has Gone Right for the Bruins at the Olympic Break

If this season was going to be a success, certain things needed to go right for the Boston Bruins.

At the Olympic break, enough of them have.

Although the Bruins have improved in a lot of areas since last year, it has not been 100% perfect. The successes outweigh the negatives, though, and it is why the Bruins are sitting in the playoff picture at the break.

It starts with the best player on the team.

David Pastrnak has posted 100-point seasons in each of the last three seasons. He had a 61-goal season, followed by two 40+ goal seasons. This year, at 52 games played, Pastrnak has 22 goals and 49 assists.

“I like to make plays,” Pastrnak said after he posted six assists in a 10-2 win over the Rangers. “Growing up, I was more of a playmaker, and then, in the NHL, it flipped a little bit. I like to score goals, don’t get me wrong, but most of the time, if I see somebody in a better position than me to score, then I always try to pass.”

Pastrnak’s 71 points rank seventh in the league.

He has assisted on half of Morgan Geekie’s 32 goals this year.

Geekie, who signed a six-year extension with a $5.5 million cap hit over the summer, leads the team in goals. He exploded out of the gate to start the year; he had 25 goals in the first 42 games. Then he hit a 12-game scoreless drought. He bounced back, however. In the eight games since, he has seven goals.

Another thing that has gone right: hiring Marco Sturm over the summer.

Sturm returned to the place where he played from 2006-10, established a defined 5-on-5 structure, and has led the Bruins above pre-season expectations.

The Bruins have scored 127 goals at 5-on-5; they have allowed 106.

There have been two separate six-game losing streaks this season; first, in October, then in December. Both times, the Bruins responded by going 8-1-0 in their next nine games.

The Bruins have also found success on home ice this season; they are tied for the most home wins (21) in the NHL.

“The way we played, I thought it was really, really good; very consistent, very hard, structured,” Marco Sturm said about the team going undefeated on home ice in January. “Our best players were our best players: David was outstanding, goalies were back to business. A lot of good things happened, especially at home. We feel very comfortable at home.”

Sturm has also trusted younger NHLers and has provided them with a runway for success.

That has been another key to the Bruins improvement this season.

Fraser Minten has 29 points (14-15–29) on the season. He is a plus-18, which leads all forwards. Minten is the youngest player on the Bruins roster (21), and Sturm has played him everywhere, from the first line to the third line, and both on the power play and the penalty kill.

He was also named the NHL’s Rookie of the Month in January.

Marat Khusnutdinov has also emerged as an NHL presence this season. Sturm has deployed the 23-year-old on all four lines, giving him a shot at first-line center in November and again in February. He scored his first multi-goal game in January, which resulted in a four-goal afternoon.

Third-year defenseman Mason Lohrei has found his footing this season. He has always been an offensive threat, and his six goals lead all defensemen on the Bruins. Last year, he had a league-low minus-43 rating; this year, he is up to a plus-8. He ranks third on the team (min. 10 games) in blocked shots per 60 (4.71) and has 68 blocks on the season.

Another area that has steadied the Bruins this season has been their goaltending.

Jeremy Swayman has bounced back from his performance last season. He already has 22 wins, matching his total from last year, and is tied for fifth in the league. He is also up to a 2.92 GAA and a .903 SV%.

Joonas Korpisalo has been a very reliable backup goaltender this season. He has not lost a game in regulation since December 27, posting a 4-0-2 record with a 2.20 GAA and .947 SV% in seven appearances since then.

The final turnaround for the Bruins has been their power play.

Alongside Marco Sturm, the Bruins hired Steve Spott over the summer. He joined the B’s bench with over a decade of NHL experience, and he worked with Pete DeBoer for the last 10 seasons.

Last year, the Bruins power play scored 35 times on 230 chances (15.2%). It ranked 29th in the league. Through 57 games this season, the Bruins have already scored nine more power play goals than they did last season. They have capitalized 44 times on 167 opportunities. Now, they are third in the league.

It has not all been great in Boston, though.

The Bruins have taken 286 penalties, which is the most in the league. They have been shorthanded 211 times, which is the most in the NHL by 10. The only reason they do not have the PIMs lead (769) is due to the Lightning taking four game misconducts and five more major penalties than the Bruins.

Taking a lot of penalties does not help the penalty kill.

The penalty kill ranks 28th in the league (76.3%).

They have allowed 50 goals while shorthanded, which is tied for the most in the league.

It has been on a downward spiral since January 1 (64.8%), even if they have been staying out of the box as much.

There are flaws, but enough has gone right for the Bruins to position themselves in the playoff picture at the Olympic break.

There are eight Bruins abroad currently in the men’s Olympic tournament. When they return, the Bruins have 25 games ahead of them. They currently sit in the second wild-card spot with a 32-20-5 record and 69 points. They are three points behind the Canadiens, who sit in second place in the division.

The next Bruins game is on February 26 against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

What Has Gone Right for the Bruins at the Olympic Break

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