Through four games, the Bruins have already given their fans both sides of the story: two wins to open the season, then two straight losses to knock the air out of the start. Boston is 2-2-0, and the early ride has been exactly as uneven as it looks on paper.
Still, the latest power ranking from Bleacher Report suggests the sky is not falling just yet. Lyle Fitzsimmons slotted the Bruins at No. 20 in his newest rankings, a small climb from No. 21 last week.
"We'll always have the first couple of days of the season, right? That may be the mindset of Boston fans after the Bruins won their first two games but have since dropped consecutive 4-1 decisions at Minnesota and at home against Ottawa,'' Fitzsimmons wrote.
A closer look at the schedule helps explain why the ranking is not more punitive. Boston’s two wins came against the New York Rangers and the Winnipeg Jets, who are ranked fifth and seventh, respectively. The two losses came against the Minnesota Wild and the Ottawa Senators, who sit second and third.
In other words, all four of Boston’s opponents are currently in the Top 7. Thursday night’s opponent at TD Garden, the Utah Mammoth, comes in at No. 8.
That said, the Bruins have obvious issues to clean up. Head coach Marco Sturm still has work to do, and the power play is one of the biggest problems. Boston also needs to find line combinations that can produce more offense at even strength, which is easier to say than to pull off with this roster.
The absence of defenseman Charlie McAvoy has also loomed large. He has two games left on the six-game suspension that opened his season, but he is not a cure-all for what Boston is dealing with. He is not going to suddenly provide the offense the Bruins are missing, and he is not going to erase every gap on the back end in front of the goalies.
Boston now has two more games over the next three days at TD Garden, with Utah and the Philadelphia Flyers coming in next. After that, the Bruins head west for a trip that includes a stop against the Dallas Stars. October is only getting harder, and if the Bruins don’t start tightening things up, the standings and the rankings could both look a lot worse before long.
In Other News...
Bruins Youth Movement Suddenly Looks More Real Than Ever
Over the past 20 months, the Bruins have taken a hard turn from the veteran core that defined their recent past, trading away established names and leaning into a younger, more flexible roster. The additions of Fraser Minten, Marat Khusnutdinov, Casey Mittelstadt, James Hagens and JJ Peterka, along with the hiring of Marco Sturm as head coach, have given the organization a different look and a different timeline, and the early returns have been encouraging enough to make the plan feel less like a reset and more like a real direction.
A strong start to the season, capped by a 5-1 win over the Flyers, only adds to that sense of momentum. Boston still has roster business to sort out, with decisions ahead on pending free agents and the possibility of more movement before the picture settles, but for the first time in a while the youth movement does not feel theoretical. It feels like something the Bruins can actually build around, even if the next few weeks will say a lot about how far theyre willing to push it. [Read more 🡒]
Bruins Face One Big Pregame Decision As Flyers Come To Boston
The Bruins wrap up their three-game homestand Thursday night against the Flyers at TD Garden, riding the lift of a recent win that featured production from multiple scorers and a strong special teams showing. It has been a useful early stretch for Boston, which has already seen enough balance in its lineup to feel like there is more than one way to win on a given night.
Philadelphia arrives in Boston still looking for answers, having had a rough first handful of games offensively and on special teams. The bigger Bruins question is still a pregame one, with the lineup and goaltending picture not yet fully settled, and the decision in net carrying a little extra weight as Boston tries to close the homestand on a clean note. [Read more 🡒]
Bruins Head Into Road Trip With A Lot More To Like Than Expected
The Bruins left TD Garden with a convincing 5-1 win over the Flyers, and the larger takeaway was how many different parts of the roster chipped in. Boston moved to 4-2-0, got goals from Pavel Zacha, Mason Lohrei, Marat Khusnutdinov, Casey Mittelstadt and Fraser Minten, and saw Jeremy Swayman turn aside 14 shots in a game that never felt especially dangerous for the home side.
Now comes the part that will tell a lot more about what this start really means: a four-game road trip beginning in San Jose. Early-season home wins can cover over a few things, but the Bruins are heading west with some momentum and a deeper scoring mix than expected, which makes the trip a useful early test of whether this group can carry those contributions away from Boston. [Read more 🡒]