Thanks in large part to Tim Thomas‘ incredible play, the Bruins again allow fewer goals per game than any other team, and the Bruins are scoring a 12th-best 2.9 goals per game too. So, what’s been going wrong?
It seems to be rare for Boston to play three good periods in a single game. More often than not, the B’s are brutally outplayed in the first period, leaving Thomas or Tuukka Rask to keep them in it. On Saturday, though, they flipped the script and came out on fire for the first 20 minutes. After taking a 3-0 lead against Washington, however, they let the Capitals come back and held on for dear life in the third period as they were outshot 26-2.
Another area in which the Bruins could improve is on the power play. The Bruins convert nearly twice as frequently as the Florida Panthers do, scoring on 18 percent of opportunities, but they still rank just 14th in the league on the man advantage. On the penalty kill, however, they are third-best — not a major surprise considering who is in net.
Boston also may allow opponents too many shots. It’s hard to say that the defense is doing much wrong given the goals-against figures, but the Bruins actually allow the third-most shots against per game. If it weren’t for Thomas, things would look a whole lot different.
Injures, of course, have also taken their toll on the season thus far. Claude Julien has constantly been forced to shuffle his lineup, and while the team has responded well, it surely hasn’t made consistency easy.
What do you think is the biggest area of concern for the Bruins? Leave your thoughts below.
What is a biggest area of concern for the Bruins?online surveys
