Remember when the Bruins season looked like it was cursed and about to go up in flames? Well they’re finally getting healthy and now they’re in a nice groove.
Halfway into their west coast road trip, the Bruins were on a four game skid and had just lost to an injury plagued Ducks team that doesn’t look right.
Since then they’ve won six of their last seven games, beating legit contenders such as the Los Angeles Kings, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Tampa Bay Lightning.
They achieved several of these wins without their best player, Brad Marchand as well.
Part of the team’s recent success has been stability. Long time injured players such as Brad Marchand, Anders Bjork, and David Backes are finally back in the lineup and their presence has been felt.
The Bruins defense has been much better lately as well. The blue line has been a work in progress thus far, but as of late they’ve turned into a top ten squad.
Part of this can be attributed to the stellar play of rookie Charlie McAvoy. The 19-year-old has been everything the Bruins were hoping for. With players like Torey Krug having down years, McAvoy has stepped up to the plate and even leads the team in assists.
The Bruins are also getting help from some solid goal tending. Anton Khudobin has done a fantastic job holding down the fort while Rask comes back from injury. He’s only allowed seven goals over his last four games.
Meanwhile, the Bruins got the old Tuukka Rask back. After a disappointing slump, Rask held the high-powered Lightning to two goals and shut out the Philadelphia Flyers.
If the Bruins can get both of their goal tenders going at the same time as their defense like they are right now, they will be able to keep a lot of teams in check.
