First place 20 games in who would’ve thought!

The Bruins looked strong against the Maple Leafs in both games, but especially in this one.
The identity of the team and how they win games is taking shape and over the last 7 games
you can see the transformation the Bruins have made to being much tougher, physical and
simply harder to play against. The defensive zone that was a complete dumpster fire during
their losing streak, has drastically improved but so hasn’t defending the rush. The Bruins
defensemen have made a much stronger effort to shut plays down at the blue line allowing
the team to turn pucks over and spend less time in their own end. The Bruins lead the
league in blocked shots with 285 and are 1 behind the Panthers for the lead in hits given
with 418. Those are the stats to look at for a team looking to be tough to play against. Hard
on pucks, blocking shots, and being physical. Nikita Zadorov has really sparked this team’s
physicality through his play the last several games, his competitive toughness has been
contagious, and the Bruins are better for it.