Zdeno Chara

NHL 2011 Year In Review

The year of 2011 is coming to an end. For some, it couldn’t have gone by any slower. Others don’t want it to end so soon. Either way, it’s still…

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.

The Morning After: Bruins return to form, crush streaking Maple Leafs

For now, all seems right with the Boston Bruins. The components that were deemed missing and the efforts that were lacking when the team started the season all showed up at once on Thursday night when the Bruins beat the red-hot Toronto Maple Leafs, 6-2.

The game was all Boston, really. The team showed a full-60 minute effort, had success on the power-play and big games for many role players who had seemed be complacent to start the season. Maybe it was Shawn Thornton’s spirited bout early in the first period with Colton Orr that set the tone or perhaps the Bruins first power-play goal of the night that built the B’s confidence back up. Whatever it was, worked.