Four Reasons Bruins Should Be Thankful This Thanksgiving

The Boston Bruins leaped past the Tampa Bay Lightning and Buffalo Sabres into third place in the Atlantic Division by defeating the New York Islanders 6-3 on Thanksgiving Eve.

Considering how badly the first 20 games of the 2024-25 season went, the Bruins actually have plenty to be grateful for, including being seventh in the Eastern Conference with 25 points.

Here are four reasons the Bruins should be thankful:

TEAM DEFENSE
In the final five games with Jim Montgomery at the helm, the Bruins were outscored 20-9 with a minus-21 goal differential to begin the season.

Since general manager Don Sweeney fired Montgomery and replaced him with Joe Sacco, the Bruins are 2-1-0 while surrendering just three goals.

One key area of improvement Sacco wanted to see from Boston was the team’s return to its roots of being hard to play against.

“I want teams to know it’s going to be hard to score goals against us,” Sacco said in his introductory press conference last week.

While the offense has still failed to lift off, the defense has certainly stepped up. The Bruins have held their opponents to 57 shots on goal after giving up 93 in the first three games of the season.

GOALTENDING
Jeremy Swayman has struggled out of the gate following a long offseason, which led to the Bruin No. 1 netminder sitting out of training camp. The time missed has obviously affected Swayman — he’s posting a .888 save percentage and a 3.16 goals-against average in 16 starts.

To make up for the time and reps he missed, Swayman spent time with Bruins goaltending coach Bob Essensa to help find the 26-year-old’s rhythm and pace.

It certainly helped. Swayman has allowed just two goals in his last two starts. He had given up 20 in his previous five starts.

Swayman’s partner, Joonas Korpisalo, has been a star between the pipes, with two shutouts this season and a .911 save percentage and 2.38 goals-against average.

If Swayman can return to form, as he’s shown in his last two starts, and Korpisalo can continue to be solid in net, the Bruins goaltending tandem will surely steal a few games for Boston.

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PENALTY KILL
Historically, the Bruins have been at the top of the league on the penalty kill. However, this season, Boston ranked 25th in the league at 75.6% through the first 20 games of the season. After the coaching change, the Bruins regained their mojo and allowed just one power-play goal while shorthanded 11 times for 90.9% in their last four games under Sacco.

OFFENSE IS COMING
The Bruins are 3-1-0 in their last four games since the coaching change. In those contests, Boston has outshot their opponents 113-81 and outscored them 9-6.

Boston exploded for six goals against the Islanders on Wednesday night, with its stars leading the charge. Brad Marchand scored a pair of goals in the first period, and Pavel Zacha potted two tallies in the final frame.

Not to be forgotten, David Pastrnak had three assists in the Bruins’ win for his sixth multi-point game of the season. Elias Lindholm added three assists for his fourth multi-point game, and fellow newcomer Nikita Zadorov lit the lamp for the first time in a Bruins uniform and had an assist on Zacha’s second goal for his second multi-point game.

All six goals came 5-on-5, the first time the Bruins scored at least five at even strength this season.

The Bruins will look to stay hot as they close out November against the Pittsburgh Penguins in a Black Friday matchup. Puck drop is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET, and the game will be aired on TNT.