Going into Thursday night’s matchup with the Ottawa Senators, it’s no secret the Boston Bruins have gotten off to a hot start this season. The Bruins have opened the season 11-7-0, tied for the top spot in the Atlantic Division with the Montreal Canadiens, who come into Thursday night 10-4-2.
Related: Projected Lineups for Bruins vs Senators – 11/13/25
Sure, Boston has two games in hand on their bitter rivals, but that doesn’t change how effective they have been thus far. The fact the Bruins have been in four overtime/shootout situations, and have come out on top each time, is a testament to the turnaround this team has undergone over the offseason. However, there is more to the story than just surface success.
There are many reasons that they have turned it around so well, but at the end of the day it boils down to three big ones.
3. Goaltending Has Improved
Going into the 2025-26 season, one of the Bruins’ biggest concerns was going their goaltending situation. Jeremy Swayman was getting paid like a top goalie in the league, but wasn’t performing like one. On top of that, Joonas Korpisalo was getting paid appropriately, but was demanding more playing time.
After sharing duties with Korpisalo between the pipes to start the season, and starting off a bit shaky, Swayman set out to prove the doubters wrong. To say he has done so would be putting it mildly, especially after getting two-straight starts against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Since falling to the Senators on Oct. 27, Swayman has won four in a row despite the team allowing an average of 32 shots per game. Sure, it’s early, but he has already lowered his goals-against-average (GAA) to 3.08 (from 3.11) and upped his save-percentage (SV%) to .900 (from .892).
Korpisalo has played in seven games and has compiled a 4-3-0 record, but he has also won his last three starts – the latest coming on Nov. 6 when he defeated Ottawa.
Heading into the season, people were wondering if the trend of one goalie starting one night, and the other starting the next would continue. Head coach Marco Sturm, however, has given each a chance to bounce back or keep going if they are playing well.
Korpisalo is not exactly holding steady, though, with a 3.24 GAA and .885 SV%. Perhaps, at some point soon, they may want to give Michael DiPietro a start. DiPietro is currently undefeated through seven American Hockey League starts with the Providence Bruins and holds a GAA of 2.13 and SV% of .929.
2. The Team Finally Has Secondary Scoring
Going into the season, it was a given that David Pastrnak was going to have another monster campaign. Through 18 games, he certainly has. Going into Thursday night’s matchup with the Senators, he has 10 goals and 12 assists (22 points) and only five games where he didn’t have a point. Ironically, two of those were against Ottawa, but that’s not the point (no pun intended).
For the first time in what seems like a long time, the Bruins finally have secondary scoring outside of Pastrnak. They have four others who have reached double-digit points, albeit only one in double-digit goals.
One encouraging sign for Boston is that four other players who are right on the doorstep of double-digit points – coincidentally, all but one, have four goals and five assists. The other one is McAvoy’s defensive partner, Mason Lohrei.
In a league where scoring runs supreme, you can never have too much of it. The benefit to the Bruins’ game is that it’s coming from multiple players. As the season wears on, it’s only going to keep coming.
1. The Special Teams Are Vastly Improved
Boston’s penalty kill and power play units finished 28th and 21st in the league, respectively, last season – it was just a dismal effort whether they were up or down a man. This season, however, has been a completely different story.
Through the first 18 games, the Bruins have converted on 25% of their power plays and sit eighth in the league. The penalty kill sits at 81.2% and even killed off their first 14 penalties of the season.
Part of the credit can be attributed to the goaltending and the offensive prowess this team possesses, but the other part is that both units are simply working so well together. That part boils down to coaching. It’s no secret that Sturm has been a revelation both in terms of culture and personality.
Many More Reasons Boston Has Been Successful
For some reason, this team in Boston seems like it is different from team past. These three reasons are definitely a part of why that is, but there are many ways that they look, sound, and feel different to fans and media members alike.
