Boston Bruins
The Bruins’ defensive construction has tightened up throughout this five-game win streak.
The Boston Bruins’ 2025-26 season has been something however predictable for Marco Sturm and Co.
Boston’s development underneath its first-year head coach has been about as linear as a Tarantino script — with a three-game win streak undercut by six straight losses in regulation … adopted by a present stretch that features six wins in seven contests.
It stays to be seen what sort of ceiling this hard-working, albeit flawed, roster boasts.
However there are a number of encouraging — and worrying developments — that may be gleaned from the primary month of the 2025-26 season.
Listed below are a couple of stats which have stood out.
1.89: Anticipated 5-on-5 targets towards per 60 minutes in final three video games
Slowly however certainly, it seems to be as if the Bruins are beginning to purchase into Sturm’s defensive system.
By means of the primary few weeks of the 2025-26 season, Boston’s lack of defensive fortitude stood as their most confounding shortcoming — particularly on a group whose perceived id was rooted in a stingy strategy within the D-zone.
By means of the primary 13 video games of the season, the Bruins had been surrendering 2.95 anticipated targets per 60 minutes of 5-on-5 play — the fourth-worst mark within the NHL. In different phrases, the Bruins routinely coughed up high quality probabilities in entrance of each Joonas Korpisalo and Jeremy Swayman.
However issues have tightened up in Boston’s personal zone throughout this present successful streak. Over their final three video games, the Bruins’ 1.89 expected goals against per 60 is third in the league — trailing solely the Avalanche and Kings.
On Saturday towards a high-powered Hurricanes lineup, Carolina generated simply seven high-danger probabilities at 5-on-5 play in a 2-1 Bruins victory, whereas the Senators — the identical membership that dropped seven targets on Boston simply 10 days prior — only produced four 5-on-5 high-danger chances on Thursday night in a 3-2 overtime victory.
The Bruins will want an extended pattern measurement to validate that they’re constructed to be one of many more durable defensive groups within the NHL.
However this current stretch ought to validate what Sturm has been preaching in relation to how this group must play to correct factors over an everyday clip.
“We’re doing sufficient proper issues to hold in video games, and should you give your self an opportunity — you’ve put your self in a spot to get factors, and that’s what that is all about,” Sean Kuraly mentioned Thursday.
7-1-0: Bruins’ file when Hampus Lindholm is within the lineup
It may’t be understated simply how impactful Lindholm’s return from a nagging lower-body ailment has been for righting the ship for Boston up to now this season. Past his personal play in all three zones, Lindholm’s presence has additionally allowed Sturm to place collectively a stout high pairing of Charlie McAvoy and Nikita Zadorov, who’ve dominated collectively.
Boston’s penalty kill, particularly, has thrived when the 31-year-old Swede has hopped over the boards in shorthanded conditions. Within the eight video games that Lindholm has performed up to now this season, Boston’s PK has snuffed out 28 of the opposition’s 29 energy performs (96.6 %). With out Lindholm within the lineup, that PK is simply working at 70.9 % (22-for-31).
1.87: 5-on-5 targets scored per 60 minutes when Pastrnak & Geekie are skating collectively
One of many high catalysts for Morgan Geekie’s breakout 33-goal season final 12 months was his chemistry on a line with David Pastrnak — with the duo producing a whopping 4.19 targets scored per 60 minutes of 5-on-5 play.
That manufacturing as linemates hasn’t precisely translated up to now this season, with that very same duo now producing 1.87 targets scored per 60 minutes of 5-on-5 motion in 2025-26.
The absence of Elias Lindholm at 1C will definitely hamper that grouping, however the case will be made that Boston’s already overachieving offensive output will obtain one other carry as soon as Pastrnak and Geekie get again on the identical web page.
Even with Geekie not gelling straight away this 12 months with Pastrnak, he’s nonetheless working on a 51-goal tempo with 10 targets in 16 video games. As noted by Ty Anderson of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Geekie is tied with Pastrnak for probably the most targets within the NHL since Nov. 27, 2024 with 42 — trailing solely Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl.
17: Blocked photographs per recreation for the Bruins
One other sturdy testomony to the Bruins’ buy-in underneath Sturm’s defensive preaching has been their willingness to eat pucks within the D-zone — with Boston’s 17.00 blocks per recreation good for fifth within the NHL.
It’s one other welcome sight for Sturm that the gamers have now doled out a “Grinder Award” after video games, as a substitute of awarding the sport puck to whichever participant might need stuffed the stat sheet probably the most on that individual evening.
Andrew Peeke, who blocked two photographs and took his justifiable share of punishment amid a two-assist efficiency towards Ottawa, took house the accolade on Thursday.
“It’s not coming from me, it’s coming from the gamers,” Sturm mentioned of the “Grinder Award.” “And they also realized it too. [Peeke] took a fairly large hit, he needed to get off shortly. He got here again and was not shy in any respect. That’s why he’s massive for our group, as a result of he does the soiled work.”
1.8: Objectives saved above anticipated this season by Boston’s goalies
The excellent news? The Bruins’ goaltending duo of Swayman and Korpisalo has improved from final season — again when subpar netminding melded with porous defensive construction regularly.
Boston is getting some well timed saves from each Swayman and Korpisalo this season, however they’re additionally not precisely stealing video games fairly but.
In complete, the Bruins’ goalie tandem is sporting simply 1.8 targets saved above anticipated (per MoneyPuck) — with a few of {that a} byproduct of Korpisalo 56th out of 71 qualifying targets with a -1.7 targets saved above anticipated. Swayman ranks twentieth amongst that very same pool of 71 targets with 3.5 targets saved above common.
The Bruins are getting strong goaltending up to now, which is much better than what they’d final season. However there may be nonetheless loads of room for enchancment.
For these conserving monitor — the goalie with the worst targets saved above anticipated up to now this season? Linus Ullmark with a -8.2 targets saved above anticipated price.
2: Objectives allowed throughout a Zadorov-McAvoy pairing’s 5-on-5 ice time
It ought to come as little shock that the Bruins’ defensive resurgence — and an uptick in 5-on-5 manufacturing by McAvoy (six assists in final 5 video games) has come since Sturm swapped out Mason Lohrei and positioned Nikita Zadorov subsequent to McAvoy on Boston’s high D pairing.
After a Lohrei-McAvoy pairing were knocked for 10 goals against over 120:21 of 5-on-5 reps together, the Bruins have solely coughed up two targets over the Zadorov-McAvoy pairing’s 101:06 of 5-on-5 motion.
For now, it seems to be like Boston lastly has a stout high defensive duo.
5: 5-on-5 targets scored by Boston’s second line since Mittelstadt’s wholesome scratch
Since Sturm opted to take a seat out Mittelstadt for a recreation on Oct. 19 towards Utah, each he and the remainder of Boston’s second line have seemingly discovered their stride. With Mittelstadt shifted to the wing and Pavel Zacha entrenched at heart, the Bruins have outscored opponents, 5-2, and outshot them, 44-33, over the past 9 video games (88:31 of 5-on-5 ice time) that the Mittelstadt-Zacha-Arvidsson line has appeared in.
It’s been a welcome turnaround for a phase of the depth chart that had loads of query marks getting into the season. Now, the case will be made that this trio is Sturm’s most-trusted ahead grouping over the previous couple of weeks.
3: Objectives by Bruins defensemen
One avenue that the Bruins have but to take in relation to producing offense this season has been peppering the web from the blue line.
Solely the Canucks, Panthers, and Golden Knights have fewer targets scored by defensemen than the Bruins — with two of Boston’s three tallies from D-men coming from gamers who at the moment aren’t within the lineup in Mason Lohrei and Jordan Harris.
Even when the Bruins’ blue-liners aren’t discovering the again of the web, McAvoy particularly has nonetheless been an harmful playmaker. McAvoy’s 12 assists are tied for second within the NHL amongst defensemen with fellow BU Terrier Lane Hutson — with solely Cale Makar (14) posting extra helpers up to now this season.
31: Projected factors for Tanner Jeannot
The Bruins have had a number of contributors pull on the rope over the previous couple of weeks, headlined in current video games by kids like Fraser Minten and Marat Khusnutdinov.
However Jeannot — who raised loads of eyebrows when Boston handed him a five-year contract in July — has been a reasonably regular presence additional down on the group’s depth chart.
He’s largely been as marketed as a bodily presence, however his playmaking poise — as evidenced by his set-up on Sean Kuraly’s purpose on Thursday — has additionally proven via at occasions.
Jeannot is at the moment on tempo for 31 factors this season, which might mark his highest scoring output since his breakout 24-goal, 41-point marketing campaign in 2021-22.
For these conserving tabs, Trent Frederic — who signed an eight-year, $30.8 million extension with the Oilers — has scored only one purpose and 0 assists over 15 video games this 12 months.
70: Bruins minor penalties taken
The Bruins would possibly boast an elite penalty kill this season (not less than when Hampus Lindholm is enjoying). However Boston must curtail its knack for sending gamers to the sin bin.
By means of 16 video games, the Bruins have been knocked for 70 complete minor penalties — 11 greater than the subsequent NHL group within the Nashville Predators.
Taxing their shorthanded unit each evening is ultimately going to catch as much as Boston over the span of an extended season, whereas a number of stretches spent killing penalties can be going to eat into the reps afforded to playmakers like Pastrnak, Mittelstadt, and others.
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