Over the last couple of weeks, the Boston Bruins have certainly had their ups and downs. They went through a stretch of losing four out of five games, then bounced back and are currently on a three-game winning streak. Ah yes, the ups and downs of an 82-game grind.
As the Bruins enjoy an extended break this week in between games, let’s dive into the latest Bruins 3 Up, 3 Down.
Plus One: Brad Marchand
On Dec. 1, Bruins captain Brad Marchand lost his grandmother and he played both games against the Toronto Maple Leafs (Dec. 2) and the Columbus Blue Jackets (Dec. 3) with special motivation (from ‘With heavy heart, Brad Marchand lifts Bruins over Columbus with hat trick,’ Boston Herald, Dec. 4, 2023). In both games in 24 hours, he played in big part in the Black and Gold collecting four points.
Against the Maple Leafs, Marchand scored the game-winning goal late in overtime for a 4-3 win. The next night at the TD Garden, the Bruins trailed 1-0 entering the third period when he scored three consecutive goals, two on the power play, for a natural hat trick in a 3-1 victory. When Boston needed him to step up, he did.
Minus One: Bruins Struggles With Opposing Goalies Pulled
One of the more concerning things that have popped up over the first two months of the season is end-of-game situations when the opposing team has pulled their goalie. Through 24 games this season, the Bruins have allowed seven goals with the goalie from the other team pulled for an extra skater.
On Nov. 20, the Tampa Bay Lightning tied the game at 4-4 with four seconds left in the game with the goalie pulled and then won it in overtime. Against Toronto, Auston Matthew scored with six seconds left in the game to force overtime before Marchand won the game in the extra session. This is an area that the Bruins need to clean up.
Plus Two: Danton Heinen
In his second stint in Boston, Danton Heinen is starting to heat up and turn things around. After struggling to get into the lineup and finally breaking through, the 28-year-old left wing has been an offensive surprise the last two weeks. Heinen has two goals and four assists and his goal against the San Jose Sharks on Nov. 30 started the scoring in the second period of a 3-0 Boston win. He took a pass from Matthew Poitras and scored on a quick wrist shot. He picked up an assist on Marchand’s first of three third-period goals against the Blue Jackets on Dec. 3. In 16 games this season, Heinen has three goals and five assists.
Minus Two: Bruins Thanksgiving Weekend
It was not a great Thanksgiving Weekend for the Bruins and in reality, it was an eye-opening weekend against two Eastern Conference teams that will most likely be in postseason play. On Nov. 24, the Detroit Red Wings came to Boston and beat the Black and Gold, 5-2, on the strength of two first-period goals and then had a strong response to the Bruins closing the deficit to one goal in the third period on a Heinen goal.
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One day later at Medison Square Garden, the Bruins fell behind the New York Rangers 2-0, responded with a pair of goals later in the first period, but they fell apart in the second half of the game in an ugly 7-4 loss. Like the Red Wings, New York took advantage of a Boston team that was struggling and they took over the top spot from them in the NHL with the win. To compound matters, Boston was beaten soundly again two nights later by Columbus.
Plus Three: Jeremy Swayman
In the second period of a 5-2 loss at Columbus on Nov. 25, Boston trailed 2-0 in the middle of the second period when coach Jim Montgomery pulled Jeremy Swayman, and the former University of Maine goalie was not happy. The move was more to provide a spark to the rest of the team and it didn’t work.
Montgomery put Swayman back in the net three nights later against San Jose and stopped all 26 shots for the shutout. Against Columbus six nights later, Swayman got the call again and allowed just a late second-period goal in the win over the Blue Jackets. It was a nice bounce-back weekend for Swayman.
Minus Three: Bruins Defense Facing Too Many Odd-Man Rushes
Part of the Bruins system that Montgomery runs involves the defense getting involved in the offense. When that happens, that leaves one of the defenseman facing odd-man rushes at times and the numbers through the first two months of the season of odd-man rushes against the Bruins is, well, not great.
The Bruins rank in the bottom-third in the league in defending odd-man rushes and believe it or not, they are not the only top team in the NHL ranked down there. Joining them are the Rangers, Maple Leafs, Lightning, and Vegas Golden Knights. Boston goalies Linus Ullmark and Swayman have bailed out their teammates with some big saves, but how many odd-man rushes the Bruins allow is certainly something to keep an eye on.
The Bruins will continue their homestand by hosting the Buffalo Sabres (Dec. 7) and Arizona Coyotes (Dec. 9) before they hit the road for games at the New Jersey Devils (Dec. 13) and New York Islanders (Dec. 15). They will look to build on their division lead over the Florida Panthers, who are hanging around and getting healthy bodies back.
