It is hard to find any negatives concerning the Boston Bruins and their historic start to the 2022-23 season. The Bruins are back to being one of the top five-on-five teams in the league, and their power play is third overall in the NHL. The return of center David Krejci has been a factor in Boston’s offensive resurgence as new head coach Jim Montgomery’s aggressive style has allowed defensemen to jump into the play and for Boston to have a more balanced attack throughout the forward group. The Bruins have 56 points in 33 games, just ten points sort of the maximum to date.
So is there a single weakness or Achilles’ Heel for the Bruins as they enter the new year? The goaltending has been outstanding, with Linus Ullmark leading the way. At this point, it is all systems go for Boston. However, there is an area that might be a cause for concern for Montgomery’s club. The Bruins have had a propensity for taking penalties, some of them unnecessary, which is something that the first-year Bruins’ coach and his staff will want to clean up going forward.
The Bruins have amassed 345 penalty minutes in 33 games which are eleventh in the league. So far, Boston has the top penalty kill with an 85.2 percent success rate. However, in the Bruins’ six total losses (four in regulation), Boston has allowed five goals on the man advantage. Some of the team’s struggles happened when defensive defenseman Derek Forbort was injured for nearly a month. In that time, Boston lost two games, one of them being a 5-2 loss to Florida, where the Panthers scored three power-play goals.
The Bruins’ penalty kills before Forbort’s injury was 35-for-37, good for 94.6% (best in the NHL). Since the injury, the PK struggled significantly at a rate of 31-for-41 for 75.6% (20th in the NHL). To say Forbort is a key to Boston’s shorthanded success is an understatement. But still, the Bruins need to be more disciplined and stay out of the box. Boston has been terrific on the penalty kill but can not play with fire as the season moves on.
Ullmark has been sparking in the net for Boston and is 19-1-1 on the season. In his 21 starts, the Bruins have given up 41 goals, 11 on the opposing power play. Boston is currently second in goals per game, meaning the offense has been more than potent enough to make up for the lack of discipline at times. Some of the untimely penalties come from the aggressive nature in which Montgomery has the Bruins playing. This will happen throughout 82 games, but you can bet that Montgomery would like to see the Bruins move away from the top third of the league in penalty minutes.
It has been a surprisingly great start to the Bruins’ season. This is a team on a mission to win a Stanley Cup as their aging stars reach the end of their careers. Not much seems to be in the way of the end goal. The only thing that could derail the Bruins is the Bruins themselves.
