The Bruins are on a roll now. A surprising reset after dropping 6 games in a row in ugly
fashion, the Bs have done a complete 180 and have now won 7 of the last 8, including 6 in a
row, 4 of which coming from 2024 playoff teams.

The attention to detail in the defensive zone has been the major change in the last several
games. The commitment to playing stronger, and more physically in the D-zone has directly
translated to better goaltending, and strong offensive play. Morgan Geekie has been red
hot, Arvidsson has 3 goals in the last 5 games, and maybe the MVP of the season so far for
this Bruin’s team is Pavel Zacha. Zacha has stepped into a legitimate #2 center behind
Lindholm (out with injury) and has produce 4 goals and 10 assists for 14 points in 17
games. He contributes on the defensive end as a strong two-way player and holds a 55.2%-
win percentage in the faceoff dot. He has been able to drive his line of Arvidsson and
Mittlestadt into a competent second line which was a grave concern for this lineup to start
the year. Fraser Minten has been a very pleasant surprise on the 3rd line as his confidence
continues to grow as a mainstay on an NHL roster. I thought he looked great against his
former team the Maple Leafs.

Looking ahead the Bruins depth looks to be getting tested. Injuries to Mittlestadt (week to
week, upper body), E. Lindholm (week to week, lower body), John Beecher (week to week,
upper body) and Jordan Harris (injured reserve, ankle). The good news is the Providence
Bruins are 10-1 with 4 players at or above a point per game. It appears Marco Sturm and the front office have elected to bring up Alex Steeves (3g-5a-8p w/ Providence in 10gp) to fill Mittlestadt’s absence, while Viel will plug into the 4th line role for Beecher. Khusty remains the top line center in the absence of Lindholm. McAvoy who was out of the Toronto game for personal reasons was back with the Bruins practicing and should be available for the rubber match against Toronto tomorrow night.

The Bruins have 3 very important games against division opponents, Toronto at home,
Ottawa (again) and Montreal on the road. All 3 teams are jockeying for early season playoff
positioning, and whether we believe it or not the Bruins are in the mix of the early season
playoff race. A popular benchmark among analysts and pundits is the Thanksgiving holiday.
Roughly 75% of teams in a playoff spot by Thanksgiving end up making the playoffs in April.
I believe this year will be an outlier as Florida began the year with several injuries, and we
still have the all-important global hockey spectacle of the Olympics in February that could
drastically impact team’s playoff hopes depending on the health of their top players following that tournament (flashback to McAvoy following 4 nations last season). A lot still
has to go right for this roster to make a real threat but this is a better start to the year than I
think anyone was expecting for this team.