The Boston Bruins are starting to look like a team that knows exactly who they are-and more importantly, how they want to play. Under first-year head coach Marco Sturm, it took some time for the Black and Gold to settle into their new identity.
But now, midway through the 2025-26 season, the pieces are clicking into place. And the rest of the league should be paying attention.
One of the clearest signs of this team's growth? Their ability to close.
If the Bruins take a lead into the third period, good luck prying it away. That’s become their calling card, and Saturday night in Chicago was another example of just how dangerous this group can be when they’ve got momentum and a one-goal edge heading into the final frame.
It didn’t start pretty. The Blackhawks jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period, and for a moment, it looked like the Bruins might be in for a long night at the United Center.
But Boston didn’t blink. Instead, they responded with poise and purpose.
Defensemen Mason Lohrei and Charlie McAvoy each found the back of the net in the second period, tying the game and swinging the energy back in Boston’s direction. Then, with less than a minute left in the period, Viktor Arvidsson finished off a slick feed from Pavel Zacha to give the Bruins a 3-2 lead. Just like that, the script flipped-and with the way this team has been playing in third periods, that goal felt like a dagger.
The final 20 minutes were all Bruins. They didn’t just protect the lead-they extended it.
Lohrei added his second of the night, and Marat Khusnutdinov tacked on another to seal a 5-2 win, Boston’s sixth straight. Joonas Korpisalo was steady in net, turning away key chances and helping the Bruins lock things down with the kind of no-nonsense third period that’s becoming their trademark.
After the game, Sturm summed up the attitude shift that’s fueling Boston’s surge.
“I think that confidence now, going into the third period, we aren’t afraid,” he said. “In the past, it has been our best period.
That was the mindset today. The guys are willing to defend... defending, not panicking, still making plays.”
That mindset-defend without retreating, stay aggressive without taking unnecessary risks-is exactly what’s made the Bruins so hard to beat when they’re playing with a lead. They’re not just sitting back and waiting for the clock to run out. They’re controlling the pace, making smart plays, and trusting their structure.
And that’s what should worry the rest of the league. Because when Boston turns a 60-minute game into a 40-minute race to get ahead, it puts enormous pressure on opponents to strike early. If you’re chasing the Bruins in the third, chances are, you’re not catching them.
This team is building something real-and with their confidence growing and their system tightening up, they’re firmly in the playoff conversation. The Bruins are finding their rhythm, and right now, it’s a rhythm that’s hard to disrupt.