The Bruins have a lot going for them right now, but as we saw in their 4-2 loss to the Edmonton Oilers, not everything is perfect.
Whether it be bad luck, bad play, or whatever else, the Bruins still have several causes for concern.
Injuries:
The Bruins have been ravaged by injuries unlike any other team in the NHL this season. It’s gotten to the point where fans are celebratory when the team escapes a game unharmed.
For whatever reason, the team is snake bitten and it’s taking a toll on the entire roster, especially the rookies. They’ve been unable to maintain a consistent line combination because the lineup shuffles nearly every night.
As of late, the Bruins have been without their best player Brad Marchand, along with rookie Anders Bjork, Ryan Spooner, and others.
Players such as Patrice Bergeron, Torey Krug, and Noel Acciari have been able to return to the ice, but the latter two haven’t looked the same.
This team has shown that it has the tools to get hot at the right time, but it will be a struggle if they don’t have an NHL roster.
Inconsistency:
A large portion of the team’s inconsistency has to with the injuries, but it goes deeper than that.
The Bruins have been going back and forth between great and awful games.
The team has a top 13 defense, but it’s not fair to compare them to the NHL’s best, even with the emergence of Charlie McAvoy. The offense is the sixth to last scoring offense in the game, but they still have nights where they’re capable of scoring four plus goals against playoff teams.
Until the teams recently snapped four game winning streak, they didn’t even have a back to back win.
Flashes of glory are always exciting, but unless they start becoming more than flashes, this team will be in trouble.
Goaltending:
This was labeled as one of our “good trends” in the last article, so why is it all of a sudden a weakness?
The answer is the same reason it’s a strength, Tuukka Rask. The Bruins starting goaltender hasn’t looked the same since returning from his concussion.
The worry coming into the season was that Rask would be forced to play too many games because the Bruins lacked a quality backup but so far it has been the opposite. Anton Khudobin has shined and the team has become worried about playing Rask in risk of killing momentum.
This is precisely what happened during Sunday’s tilt against the Oilers. After a four game winning streak with Khudobin, Cassidy started Rask who allowed four goals in a loss for his fourth consecutive start.
