The Boston Bruins got what they needed out of their three-game homestand, even if it started with a clunker. A 4-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators to open the stretch left plenty to clean up, but Boston answered with back-to-back blowouts over the Utah Mammoth and Philadelphia Flyers before heading out on a four-game road trip that begins Tuesday night against the San Jose Sharks.
The other bit of good news for Boston: defenseman Charlie McAvoy is back from his suspension.
If you sort through the homestand, a few clear themes jump out.
Jeremy Swayman was a bright spot, even in the night the Bruins got buried. Against Ottawa, he had little chance to do much with the result.
The Bruins were sloppy from the opening puck drop, and none of the goals were on him. The real help just wasn’t there.
He faced plenty more pressure against Utah, and even in a game Boston won by five goals, he was busy. The Bruins were outshot 37-22, including 17-9 in the first period, yet still carried a 3-0 lead into the first intermission and kept the shutout alive until the third period.
Then against Philadelphia, his night was quieter, as he needed to make only 14 saves. When he did have to answer, he came through.
The power play, on the other hand, remains a problem. Boston finally got it off the mat against Utah with three goals, but the other two games on the homestand were rough.
The man advantage looked lifeless against Ottawa and Philadelphia, which made the one strong night feel more like a brief exception than a turning point. Through five games, the unit still looks like the same group that struggled early, and one breakout game is not enough to change that.
Marco Sturm did make a noticeable adjustment after the Ottawa loss, and it paid off. With two days to work after that defeat, he shuffled the forward groups and the offense responded with 11 goals over the final two games.
He put Morgan Geekie, Pavel Zacha, and David Pastrnak back together, while moving Elias Lindholm down to the third line. The results were immediate.
Mason Lohrei also stood out for Boston, especially as the Bruins look for offense from the back end this season. He scored in the opening period against Utah, part of that three-goal start that chased Mammoth goalie Sebastian Cossa from the game, and then added another in the second period against Philadelphia to make it 2-0. Through the first six games, Lohrei has been one of the Bruins’ better early-season contributors.
In Other News...
Bruins Just Got A Big Blue Line Question On This Road Trip
Charlie McAvoy is poised to rejoin the Bruins for the opening game of their four-game West Coast trip against the San Jose Sharks, giving Boston a familiar anchor back on the blue line at a time when the schedule is about to tighten up. It is the kind of return that can settle a defense group quickly, especially on the road, where matchups and pairings tend to matter even more.
The question now is which defenseman will skate next to him when the Bruins set their lineup for San Jose. Mason Lohrei, Jonathan Aspirot and Frederic Brunet are all in the mix, and the choice says plenty about how Boston wants to balance puck movement, size and reliability as the trip begins. [Read more 🡒]
Bruins Push Comes With One Offensive Pressure Point
The Bruins are trying to carry some of last seasons late push into a new year, and one of the quieter themes coming out of camp is where the offense has to come from beyond the forward lines. Boston got itself into the Stanley Cup Playoffs under Marco Sturm despite a sluggish start, and the coach has been clear that the next step is building a more dangerous attack from the blue line. It is not just about puck movement or clean exits, but about defensemen making themselves part of the scoring answer more often.
Mason Lohrei has given that idea a timely boost. The young defenseman has come through with important goals in each of the last two games, helping the Bruins in wins and giving Sturm a useful example of the kind of contribution he wants to see more consistently. Whether that becomes a real trend will matter for a Boston team that is still trying to define how much offense it can expect from its back end. [Read more 🡒]
Bruins Blue Line Suddenly Has A Tough McAvoy Decision
Charlie McAvoy is back for the Bruins after serving a six-game suspension, and his return comes at the start of a tough California road trip that immediately asks coach Marco Sturm to reshuffle his blue line. The first practice look had Hampus Lindholm beside McAvoy on the top pairing, with Nikita Zadorov and Will Borgen together and rookie Frederic Brunet alongside Mason Lohrei, giving Boston a new defensive alignment to sort through on the fly.
The most notable ripple from that change is the fate of Connor Clifton, who appears headed for a scratch despite leading the Bruins in ice time in the previous game. For a team trying to steady itself on the road, that is a real decision point, because McAvoys return restores a top-end presence while also forcing Boston to decide which defenseman gets squeezed out of the rotation. [Read more 🡒]