To say that the Boston Bruins are happy to see October in their rearview mirror would be quite an understatement. After the team limped through the season’s first month with a record of 4-6-1, November couldn’t have come faster for the Black and Gold. Any opportunity to hit a reset button surely was welcomed after the Bruins found themselves at the bottom of the Atlantic division Friday morning. However, with this new month comes an apparent improved team. After back-to-back wins, shutouts at that, over Philadelphia and Seattle this past weekend, The Bruins find themselves at .500 and seemingly back to themselves. Or are they? That 8-2 clobbering last Thursday night in Carolina is still as fresh in this Bruins writers mind as the amount of chocolate consumed on said night. Truly a Halloween to remember…. or forget.
In what was deemed a super critical weekend for the Bruins, Boston came out on top 3-0 Saturday in Philly. Backed by surprising starter Joonas Korpisalo, the Bruins played with urgency and with discipline. The lack thereof to start the season had been a major issue early on. The Bruins returned home Sunday to face the Kraken where they dominated early leading the shot total 17-1 at one point. The Bruins leveled off in the following periods but remained largely in control. Jeremy Swayman boasted the shutout on Causeway St. Though neither game was perfect, they displayed some of what the team, coaches and fans have been waiting for. Effort and execution. A step in the right direction one might say. What’s that line? You can’t walk until you learn to crawl? For this group it’s definitely a baby steps approach after such struggles early.
The Bruins should be feeling good. Better, at least. Charlie McAvoy who had a very strong weekend admitted as much post-game Sunday. “I think, obviously, there’s been a lot of soul-searching going on here, a lot of people trying to find their games, myself included,” McAvoy said. “But I think one of the things that we wanted to do, just to simplify the whole process, to keep it small, was just, let’s play hard, let’s worry about defending, let’s start from our end up. Back-to-back shutouts is a great place to start for trying to find our identity and turn it around.” McAvoy also mentioned that they have a team activity planned for this week but did not provide details. Vibes are better however and that was the goal for these two games. However not everything was sunshine and rainbows Sunday evening after it was noticed that star winger David Pastrnak didn’t take a shift in the third period. Though he did remain on the bench throughout, Pasta was seen skating once in the twenty-minute frame and it was during a TV timeout. Early speculation was that he had potentially suffered an injury. Perhaps a tweak and the team were merely proceeding with caution. Jim Montgomery ironed things out pretty quickly after the game however. “Coach’s decision third period. That’s all I’m going to comment on it”. Okay then. Pasta, was benched. If we’re being honest here, I think it’s fair to say that Pastrnak has not had a very consistent season thus far. Sure, the points are there but so are the giveaways and turnovers. Often times these plays happen after he tries to do a little too much. Case in point on Sunday; Boston up 2-0 late second period and on the PP. Pastrnak approached the Seattle zone at what I would call half speed and instead of finding a teammate for a pass or simply dumping the puck in to chase it down, he tried to stickhandle his way through four defenders. He didn’t make it past one of them. Instead, the Kraken stripped the puck and went in on a shorthanded odd man rush. Swayman was there to bail Pasta out however but that was the last shift of the game for 88. In what some people may categorize as a risky move by Montgomery it also indicates just how different this season is for the group. Montgomery is clearly not afraid to hold his star veterans accountable. His shouting match and nudge to Brad Marchand last month was the first indication Jim means business. Why shouldn’t he? After all, he is without a contract after this season and is therefore coaching for his future employment. Time will tell how Pasta will respond but all indications are the player accepts the punishment for what he described as a self-inflicted “Bad turnover”. Perhaps this was indeed a turning point weekend for the Bruins, their coach and star players. We’re in to a new month and with that comes even higher expectations for this group.
The Lookahead
Oh Canada! Boston will play three Canadian teams this week starting with a road game Tuesday night in Toronto. The Leafs are coming off a disappointing weekend seeing them drop both games on the road in St. Louis and Minnesota. They should get up for the Bruins who beat them in Boston 10 days prior. The B’s return home Thursday to host the Calgary Flames before welcoming the Senators Saturday night. Feels like a great week to string together some more wins.
G-Rant @TheRealG_Rant / Grant Cumming. Bruins fan. Bigger dreams, bigger screens, bigger feelings are planned.
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