Boston Bruins are so good they’re too good to be true
With a 36-5-4 record, the Boston Bruins are the best team in the NHL, head and shoulders above the rest of the league.
Linus Ullmark leads all goalies in wins, save percentage, and GAA and is easily the front runner for the Vezina Trophy. David Pastrnak is one of the scariest goal scorers in the league and is on pace to smash his career high 48 goals in 2019-20.
Head coach Jim Montgomery is an amazing second chance story. He was fired mid-season by the Dallas Stars during the 2019-20 season for due to his drinking problem. Now he’s hitting all the right buttons on this team. Montgomery should be the front-runner for the Jack Adams Award.
This Bruins team rescued a dozen nuns from a burning church and performed CPR on five kittens to save their lives, including mouth-to-mouth.
OK, so the last one didn’t happen. But the way this season is going, not yet.
For fans, a team’s success can be intoxicating. But even that can become too much of a good thing. The good times typically don’t last forever, and the concern is the Bruins stop rolling at the wrong time.
Boston Bruins need some turbulence to overcome
Having the best record in the NHL is nothing new to the Bruins. It’s a nice accomplishment, but it means nothing if they’re not holding the Stanley Cup after their final game. Fans suffered that disappointment enough times and I don’t want to see it this year.
Hot. One last chance at the Cup. light
The regular season is supposed to prepare teams for the playoffs. To be successful in the playoffs, encountering some adversity along the way, in theory, makes the team better. Games become tighter, more physical in the playoffs. The Bruins need to take a few lumps in the regular season to learn how to bounce back.
So far they haven’t had any. Starting the season without a few veterans, including Charlie McAvoy and Matt Gryzelcyk, should had led to a slow start for the team. Yeah, slow like a bionic Zdeno Chara slapshot.
The Mitchell Miller fiasco could had caused ripples in the locker room. Nope. The veteran leaders spoke against the signing and the team surfed it like Kelly Slater.
They’re yet to lose two games in a row. They lost to the Bruce Cassidy-coached Golden Knights in overtime at home. They got revenge in a 3-1 win. They got shutout 3-0 by the Seattle Kraken. They won the next four by a total score of 17-5.
Come on! The Boston Celtics lost three in a row then won 12 of their last 14 games. See, Bruins? It doesn’t have to be bad. Can’t these Bruins stub their toe briefly?
Talking about stubbing toes, how about a significant injury? Captain Patrice Bergeron didn’t finish the 4-1 win against the New York Islanders, but he returned the next game against the New York Rangers.
Jake DeBrusk broke his leg during the Winter Classic win. And the Bruins have won seven of their last eight since then. So much for that.
How about a meteor hits Brad Marchand’s nose?
No, wait! Tomas Nosek fractured a bone in his foot. That’s good.
Well, no, it’s not.
Well, yes, it is, because it happened now. Nosek will have plenty of time to make a full recovery and get his rhythm back in time for the playoffs. And maybe in between that the Bruins can lose two of three before bouncing back for 10 wins in a row.
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Look, if the Boston Bruins cruising through the regular season continues through the playoffs and ends with the best trophy in pro sports, then the worrying was all for nothing. It would be the worst feeling to see the giants of the regular season felled by a rock flung by a team that barely made the playoffs.
I don’t wanna see the Bruins blow a 3-0 series lead because they didn’t develop the merciless killer instinct in the regular season. They shouldn’t take this regular season success for granted. A little adversity would remind them they have to earn everything, teach them how to turn up their game and find that new level they weren’t aware they had because the regular season was easy.
Next. Top 5 Boston Bruins forwards of all-time. dark
A little adversity, no matter how little, might be all the Boston Bruins need to prepare them for any challenges they face.
So maybe several players get mauled by puppies while shooting the “Pucks and Pugs” calendar.
Or how about some Pasta and cream: Pastrnak milks an “injury” over his contract like Baltimore Ravens’ Lamar Jackson (allegedly).
I’m open to suggestions.