Tuukka Rask

Defining the 2011-12 Boston Bruins season

It’s been difficult trying to define the 2011-12 Boston Bruins. Although most of the names are the same, this isn’t the same team from last year.

How could that be?

The Bruins have been a wildly inconsistent team. They started out struggling with a 3-7 record before absolutely dominating their opponents in the months of November and December, finishing out 2011 with a 22-3-1 record in the final two months. Then, mediocrity hit. The Bruins went 56 calendar days without back-to-back victories, playing .500 hockey, alternating wins with losses at a pace that could be described as just average. They weren’t bad, but they weren’t all that great either.

Now that the Bruins are once again on a winning streak, has anyone come any closer to finding out exactly who these Bruins really are?

A deeper look inside the Boston Bruins’ eight-game winning streak

Statistically speaking, the Boston Bruins are not the best team in the NHL. Despite being the team that has scored the third highest amount of goals (64), has the second least amount of goals allowed (39) and has the highest goal differential of any team in the league (+25), the Bruins aren’t even in the top ten.

Blame it on their 3-7 start; a product of a lazy hockey when the team got a bit too comfortable after their summer with the Cup, showing little signs of passion and not playing effectively for the full 60 minutes. Eight straight wins later, good enough for an undefeated November, and the Bruins have turned things around in a big, bad way.