Through five games, the Boston Bruins have won three out of their first five contests. In their first game, they defeated the Washington Capitals 3-1 thanks to a three-point night from David Pastrnak. In their second game, the Bruins were able to squeeze out a 4-3 overtime win over the Chicago Blackhawks in their home opener in large part due to the timely (and clutch) goaltending by Joonas Korpisalo.
Boston made it three consecutive wins on Saturday when they took down the Buffalo Sabres by a score of 3-1 thanks to more clutch goaltending, this time by Jeremy Swayman, and a two-point night by Mark Kastelic. Unfortunately, however, the Bruins fell for the first time in the young season despite a late rally by a score of 4-3 at the hands of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
In their next game, they fell to the Vegas Golden Knights 6-5 at T-Mobile Arena, giving the team their first loss of the season on the road.
After five games, with three being at home at TD Garden, Boston continues its road trip on Saturday with a matchup against stalwart centerman and former Bruin Charlie Coyle and the Colorado Avalanche at Ball Arena in Denver, and then they finish with a trip to Salt Lake City, where they take on the Utah Mammoth.
Boston has had plenty of good fortune to start the season thus far, but they have also had some surprises. Here are three things that have stuck out through the first five games of the season.
Elias Lindholm’s Emergence
If you asked me, going into the first road trip of the season, who would be leading the Bruins in scoring, I would have told you unequivocally and without hesitation that it would be Pastrnak. Now, while that’s not a false statement, what’s most surprising about the team this season thus far is the emergence of Elias Lindholm.
After a disappointing showing (if you call 17 goals and 30 assists disappointing, that is) in his first season, Lindholm is looking a bit more like his former self after starting the season on a point-per-game basis with four points (two goals, two assists) in the first four games.
Sure, Lindholm was not able to collect a point in the final game of the first four of the season, but he has come out of the gates swinging and is playing like a true first-line center. With the Bruins’ first road trip coming up, they will be looking for someone to keep the goal-scoring going against two, potentially three, very tough opponents.
The Goaltending Tandem (2.0?)
If you told me that the Bruins would have backed themselves into a corner with a goaltending tandem at the NHL level while also carrying an NHL-ready goalie at the American Hockey League (AHL) level, I would have said you were nuts.
Through three games, after making it known that he wants to play this season, Korpisalo has split time in net with Swayman – one playing one game, and the other playing the next. While in the short term, this helps both netminders get some rest if one has a long night, and also appeases Korpisalo, we have yet to see if this has any effect on Swayman – especially with him getting paid as one of the top goalies in the league.
So far, if you look solely at the results on the ice, the tandem is paying off for Boston. How it’s playing out behind the scenes remains to be seen, and it has not been explored to this point. The old saying goes, “if it ain’t broke, why fix it?” and that should be the attitude right now, especially with Swayman and Korpisalo averaging 29 and 20 saves per night, respectively.
If the playing pattern is any indication, Swayman will likely get the start tonight against the Golden Knights, with Korpisalo getting the start on Saturday against the Avalanche. Given how he has played thus far this season, the former is definitely a solid starting decision, given how potent Vegas’ offense is now with Mitch Marner and Jack Eichel being on the same team.
Penalty Kill Prowess
Through four games, the Bruins have been on the penalty kill a total of 20 times so far. Fortunately for them, however, they have killed off every penalty that has come their way, with the exception of two on Thursday night vs. Vegas.
For Boston, this represents a significant turnaround from where the team finished during the 2024-25 season, which saw the Bruins rank 19th in the league, killing off just 77.6% of the penalties they faced. To make the statistics for 2025-26 even better, Boston has taken the eighth-most penalties in the league at 18, which averages out to almost five per game.
Related: Bruins’ Penalty Kill Has Been a Weapon to Start the 2025-26 Season
The Bruins have yet to score shorthanded this season, but before Thursday night’s contest, they were able to kill off 14 consecutive penalties, and that is still quite impressive.
After facing the fifth-best team on the man-advantage on Monday, Boston faced the team that is tied for sixth last night in the Golden Knights, and held them at bay, only letting them convert on two of their six opportunities.
While the success against the Lightning was something to be proud of, considering where Tampa Bay is in the rankings, this matchup is on the road, and that has the potential to pose some problems for the Bruins, not having their home crowd behind them.
More Surprises to Come
Boston has had some unexpected excellence so far this season, ranging from the emergence of Elias Lindholm, the goalie tandem coming back into play, to the penalty kill playing better than expected. Something for fans to keep in mind, though, is that the Bruins are only four games into an 82-game season.
More surprises are bound to pop up throughout the season; what they are remains to be seen.
