The Bruins come home Thursday night with momentum, but also a warning sign hanging over their return to TD Garden.
Boston’s 7-2-1 start has been built on a strong opening stretch and a productive four-game road trip, one that brought seven of a possible eight points. The Bruins knocked off San Jose, Anaheim and Los Angeles before dropping a 3-2 overtime decision to Dallas on Tuesday. Even with that loss, they remain one of the NHL’s early surprises.
Now they face a Nashville team that can punish mistakes. The Predators arrive with a 29.6% success rate on the power play, one of the league’s best marks, which makes Boston’s discipline a central issue in this matchup.
That’s where the concern creeps in for the Bruins. Through their first 10 games, they have averaged about 12.5 penalty minutes per contest, putting them among the NHL’s more penalized teams. Against a club that thrives with the extra skater, that kind of sloppiness could get expensive fast.
Tuesday’s loss to Dallas was a good reminder of how quickly special teams can swing a game. Boston went 0 for 4 on the power play, while the Stars sealed it with Mikko Rantanen’s overtime power-play goal.
Rantanen finished with a hat trick, wiping out two Boston leads before ending the game. The defeat snapped the Bruins’ five-game winning streak.
Even with that setback, the bigger picture still looks strong for Boston. The team is scoring 3.6 goals per game and allowing 2.2 through 10 contests, which helps explain why it has picked up points in six straight games.
Jeremy Swayman has given the club quality goaltending, while David Pastrnak and the rest of the lineup have kept the offense moving. Matthew Poitras and James Hagens each scored against Dallas, another encouraging note for the organization’s future.
The challenge against Nashville is simple enough: keep the game at five-on-five and avoid handing over easy chances. The Predators are 3-2-3, and they have enough skill to make opponents pay when given power-play opportunities.
Boston will get its first shot back home at 7 p.m. ET, then turn around and host the San Jose Sharks on Saturday. If the Bruins can pair their strong start with a cleaner performance, Thursday could look less like a warning and more like a reset.
In Other News...
Bruins Have A Nikita Zadorov Problem They Cant Ignore
Bostons strong start has come with a familiar trade-off on the blue line, and Nikita Zadorov sits right in the middle of it. The Bruins have long valued his size, edge and ability to disrupt opponents, because when hes on, he can change the tone of a game in ways few defensemen can. But the early-season picture has been more complicated, with his play drawing scrutiny for the kind of undisciplined mistakes that can undo a good night in a hurry.
The concern is not just the penalties themselves, but the broader impact they have had on Bostons five-on-five play. The Bruins can live with some risk if Zadorov is tilting the ice in their favor, yet there has been a growing sense that the balance has been off lately, enough to lead to disciplinary scratches and renewed questions about how much rope he should get. For a team trying to build on its strong start, the issue is no longer whether Zadorov matters, but whether the Bruins can keep tolerating the version of him they have been getting. [Read more 🡒]
Bruins Turn To A Different Goalie In A Spot Fans Will Watch
The Bruins are giving Michael DiPietro another turn in goal against the Nashville Predators, a spot that comes after a demanding four-game road trip and a strong stretch away from home. Boston picked up seven of a possible eight points on that trip, and DiPietro will get the assignment after already logging two previous starts this season, including his first NHL win against the Anaheim Ducks.
For a team trying to keep the momentum going, the goalie decision adds a little extra intrigue to a home matchup that arrives right after the travel grind. Jeremy Swayman handled most of the work on the road, so this start gives Boston a different look in a game fans will be watching closely to see how the crease lines up moving forward. [Read more 🡒]
Bruins Fast Start Is Starting To Feel Like Something Bigger
A West Coast trip can tell you a lot about a hockey team, and the Bruins came home looking every bit like a group that belongs in the conversation. Boston won three of four out west, swept through the three California stops and only missed a perfect trip by dropping an overtime decision to Dallas, a run that has already started to reshape how the rest of the league sees them.
The rankings bump followed quickly, with Boston climbing in both major national power lists, but the more interesting part is what comes next. The Bruins now get to bring that momentum back home for a stretch that includes Nashville and San Jose, a chance to see whether this fast start is merely a strong opening or the beginning of something sturdier. [Read more 🡒]