Three key takeaways from Bruins’ first five games of new season originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
The Boston Bruins’ start to the 2024-25 NHL season can be explained by games against the Florida Panthers and games not against the Florida Panthers.
The B’s are 0-2-0 with 10 goals allowed in two matchups versus the Panthers. But in their other three games, the Bruins are 3-0-0 with a 13-8 scoring differential. Luckily for the Bruins, they don’t play the defending Stanley Cup champs again until Jan. 11.
There is plenty of improvement to be made defensively, and the goaltending of Jeremy Swayman and Joonas Korpisalo could be better, too, but it’s definitely encouraging for the Bruins to see their scoring depth shine so far. Boston is averaging four goals scored per game with 12 players having scored at least once and six players with multiple tallies.
Here are three key takeaways from the Bruins’ first five games.
Too many penalties
The Bruins have taken a league-high 32 penalties, including a league-leading 29 minor penalties. They have taken four or more minor penalties in four of the five games.
It doesn’t matter if you have a great or bad penalty kill — Boston ranks 15th with a 80 percent success rate on the PK — spending that much time in the penalty box is not a recipe for consistently winning games.
The Bruins have to be more disciplined. A lack of composure has been a huge issue in the two games against the Panthers. The B’s gave the Panthers six power plays in the season opener (a 6-4 loss) and five power plays in last Monday’s 4-3 defeat at TD Garden. Florida scored with the man advantage in each game.
When the Bruins beat the Avalanche 5-3 on the road Wednesday night, all of Colorado’s goals were scored on the power play. Bottom-six forward Riley Tufte committed two penalties and the Avs scored on the ensuing power play each time.
Fourth line is playing like a first line
The Bruins had their fourth line of Johnny Beecher, Mark Kastelic and Cole Koepke on the ice late in Wednesday’s game protecting a slim lead, and it was ice time well-earned.
This line has been Boston’s best to begin the season. In fact, it’s actually been one of the league’s most productive lines through five games.
Kastelic, Beecher and Koepke have each scored two goals with three assists. Their six goals combined are three more than the Edmonton Oilers’ high-powered top line of Leon Draisaitl, Connor McDavid and Zach Hyman has scored. Want an even crazier stat? Boston’s fourth line has been on the ice for eight 5-on-5 goals scored — the highest of any trio in the league, per MoneyPuck. The B’s also have not allowed a single goal during the fourth line’s 40 minutes of 5-on-5 ice time.
“I think we gotta stop calling them the fourth line,” Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery told reporters after Wednesday’s win. “It’s impressive the way they’ve been playing. They’re earning all the ice time they’re getting. Their details, work ethic and puck support offensively and defensively is allowing them to have tremendous success.”
Koepke has been a fantastic find by general manager Don Sweeney. The 26-year-old winger had three career points over the previous two seasons with the Tampa Bay Lightning. He matched that total in last week’s win over the Montreal Canadiens with one goal and two assists.
Koepke has been a great fit in every aspect. What’s working so well?
“The style of play and the way the coaching staff and the team has welcomed me in and helped me get up to speed and allowed me to play with confidence and play to my strengths,” Koepke told reporters after the win in Colorado.”I couldn’t be happier with the way things have gone. I’ve loved every minute of it.”
This line is doing more than scoring. It’s winning battles, blocking shots, playing physical and not taking bad penalties. I talked about the Bruins taking too many penalties in the section above, and the fourth line is not responsible for those issues. Beecher and Kastelic have not taken a single minor penalty in five games, while Koepke has taken only one.
This line is scoring and staying out of the penalty box — that’s a pretty good combo.
The blue line is generating offense
The Bruins did not get enough scoring from defensemen last season.
Hampus Lindholm tallied a career-high 53 points in the 2022-23 campaign, and that total dropped to 26 points last season. Charlie McAvoy’s points also dipped a year ago even though he played seven more games than he did in the 2022-23 season.
After losing 46 goals from the free agent departures of Jake DeBrusk, Danton Heinen and James van Riemsdyk in the offseason, the Bruins needed their blue line to play a larger role in the attack. It’s been mission accomplished so far.
Here’s a look at the scoring by defensemen through five games:
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Mason Lohrei: One goal, three assists
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Charlie McAvoy: Two goals, one assist
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Brandon Carlo: One goal, two assists
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Hampus Lindholm: One goal, two assists
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Nikita Zadorov: Three assists
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Andrew Peeke: Two assists
Bruins defensemen have tallied 96 shot attempts, 43 shots on net, 29 scoring chances and five goals so far. These numbers show how aggressive Boston’s blue line has been in pushing the pace and firing pucks on net. This style of play has been rewarded with plenty of goals, and it needs to continue for the Bruins to reach their full potential.
