The Boston Bruins are on a nice little win streak and have continued to score at a rather impressive pace.
All the Boston Bruins seem to do is win as of late. After starting the season off horribly the B’s have a nice 3 game win streak after defeating the Edmonton Oilers 4-1.
The Bruins seem to just be clicking on all cylinders. Their top lines are scoring, and the goaltenders are making great saves.
Edmonton isn’t a terrible team. You saw that right away. Connor McDavid is one of the best players in the NHL and showed that on Thursday night. McDavid blew by Zdeno Chara and scored the first goal of the game.
More from Chowder and Champions
- 3 Midseason Chaim Bloom Decisions That Have Killed the 2023 Red Sox
- 10 Patriots Who Will Be Cut by Tuesday’s Roster Deadline
- MLB Screws Red Sox Fans With Broadcast for Mookie Betts Return
- 3 Most Underpaid Celtics Heading Into the 2023 Season
- Red Sox Continue Rollercoaster Season With Massive Win
There is no doubt that McDavid will be a legend when he retires. If he is able to maintain his scoring he will surely be in the Hockey Hall of Fame. McDavid is one of the best players that the Edmonton Oilers have had in a long time.
McDavid exposed the Bruins weak link so far this season, their defense. Now it is important to note that they are without arguably a top 2 defenseman in Torey Krug, but the defense still needs to do better.
Matt Grzelcyk struggled in the Bruins home opener on Monday night. He didn’t struggle as much on Thursday night but continued to make mistakes. I appreciate Grzelcyk’s effort to make stretch passes, but he relied on them a lot. After missing a few Grzelcyk should try and make the smart pass instead of risking it all.
Grzelcyk had a quality game on Thursday, but I hope he begins to improve. If he doesn’t he may end up spending some time on the 9th floor when Torey Krug returns.
So here are my 5 takeaways from a great win over the Edmonton Oilers.
1. ‘Marinara mitts’
David Pastrnak is absolutely filthy. There is no other way to describe him. The things he can do with a hockey puck are insane. On Thursday night Pastrnak showed his skills off again.
Pastrnak showed off his silky hands halfway through the first period kicking off the scoring for the Bruins. Words don’t do it justice.
https://twitter.com/NHL/status/1050528996163772419
Pasta now has 4 goals and 2 assists on the season and is looking better than he ever has before.
The entire Bruins first line is doing great. Patrice Bergeron scored another goal and seems to be an ageless wonder. The line has scored over half of the team’s points.
Pastrnak has been called out for struggling to be consistent. At times he can go on long scoring droughts where it seems like he will never score again. I don’t think that will be happening this season. It may just be the optimist in me, but I think this will be a career year for Pasta where he may take home some hardware.
It appears that the sauce won’t stop flowing from Pasta anytime soon.
2. Brad Marchand gets lucky
Brad Marchand has been doing a lot of passing this season. We are so used to seeing Marchand put the puck in the net it’s almost weird to see him being so unselfish.
More from Boston Bruins
- Boston Bruins fans better be ready for a bridge year
- Boston Bruins Rumors: Why letting Tyler Bertuzzi walk is a big mistake
- Boston Bruins Rumors: Milan Lucic back returns to the Black & Gold express
- Boston Bruins Draft class 2023: Grades & thoughts on draft selections
- Boston Bruins win 3 big awards at NHL Awards Gala: Thoughts & reactions
Marchand already has 7 assists this season. Right now Marchy is the Rajon Rondo of hockey just dishing out great passes left and right. On Thursday night Marchand was finally able to secure his first goal of the season. It definitely wasn’t the prettiest of goals.
Marchy was doing what he has done so much this season, passing. It appeared that Marchand was trying to make a pass across the front of the net, but the puck took a funny bounce and found it’s way into the back of the net.
Just like David Pastrnak, Marchand is having an amazing start to the season and may be taking home some hardware as well (as long as he doesn’t get suspended).
3. Jaroslav Halak does it again
The Boston Bruins best goaltender so far hasn’t been Tuukka Rask. It’s been Jaroslav Halak.
Halak wasn’t able to secure another shutout, but he still played phenomenally. He stopped 25 of 26 shots and when Connor McDavid has a clear shot at the net, 9 out of 10 times he’s scoring. So I’m not going to hold that against Halak.
Halak continues to make amazing saves and keep the Bruins in the game. That’s all you expect from your backup goaltender.
If Halak continues to perform so well it will help the B’s out a lot. If Boston needs to give Tuukka Rask a break they can afford to. A well-rested Rask in the playoffs could mean a lot for the Bruins.
It’s pretty clear right now that the Boston Bruins have the best goaltending in the entire NHL. No matter who is in net they have a great chance of winning the game.
4. 2nd line success
The Boston Bruins have been getting basically all of their scoring from their top line. It’s something that could hurt the Bruins in the future. Teams can just lock in on the top line and stop them from scoring.
It appears that the scoring wealth is starting to get shared.
Bruce Cassidy made a move that I frankly didn’t agree with. He inserted Joakim Nordstrom into the 2nd line and sent Ryan Donato to the 9th floor.
I worry that Donato could take the benching too hard, but hopefully he will use it as motivation to improve. Still, I have to admit that I was wrong because Nordstrom paid dividends right away.
Nordstrom caused the penalty that led to David Pastrnak’s power play goal, and also got his first goal as a member of the Bruins. Right away you could see that David Krejci and Nordstrom have great chemistry.
I think Cassidy will keep Nordstrom on the 2nd line for the near future which leaves fans with more questions than answers. Will we see a 4th liner get benched or will Donato stay on the sidelines?
All we can do is wait for the B’s next game on Saturday.
RELATED PRODUCT
Blades The Bruin Bobblehead
Buy Now!
Buy Now!
5. The ‘big bad Bruins’ are alive and well
When Adam McQuaid was traded to the New York Rangers it seemed like the Boston Bruins may have lost their edge. Who would be the enforcer on the team?
On Thursday night we saw some good old fashioned hockey. It all started with Chris Wagner delivering a devastating hit in the Oilers zone. I don’t know if it was the “cleanest” hit, but it brought you back to the golden days of hockey.
Then we saw Jujhar Khaira deliver an awful hit on John Moore. Moore had his back to center ice and was drilled into the boards by Khaira. Moore’s teammates weren’t happy, but no punches were thrown until Kevan Miller dropped the gloves and he clearly won the bout.
It appears that Miller will be taking over McQuaid’s role of the guy who will drop the gloves at any possible time.
During the game, we also saw Sean Kuraly drive an Oiler through the boards causing the glass to come out of its frame. It didn’t shatter like Milan Lucic’s check back in the day, but it was still impressive.
The game concluded with some extracurricular activities with some punches and shoving and it just brings a smile to any hockey fans face.
It is clear that no one will mess with the Boston Bruins this year.