The Boston Bruins are at risk of missing the playoffs for the first time in almost a decade. Although the season has been interesting, the Bruins have underperformed.
The Bruins were the best team in the regular season last year, breaking records with 60 wins. Also, a heartbreaking first-round exit that took a little bit of their confidence. Now they could be at risk of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2016. The Bruins have to be more consistent and fix the issues that are plaguing them.
Risk of Missing the playoffs
Standard codeThe Bruins need to make changes and have some players step up if they want to have a chance of making the postseason. Since the second half of the season is beginning, there is no room for errors because every game becomes important. Therefore they are tweaking the powerplay units and ching up the lines to generate some offense. Their inability to score on power plays has contributed to plenty of losses as of late.
The Bruins need to make up a lot of ground if they want to contend for the Atlantic Division title. It’s amazing to think that two years ago they won the division convincingly and broke all those records. This year they are hoping to improve enough to be in the fight for a playoff spot. The team could make some moves at the trade deadline to upgrade some positions and fill holes.
Players to Step up
Standard codeThe Bruins need to step up their game as soon as possible. Jeremy Swayman is one of the players that may need to step up the most. Swayman is struggling to replicate what he did last season. However, the lack of offense puts more pressure on him to keep the score low. David Pastrnak is not having his best season with only seventeen goals and forty-two points. When he finally gets on a hot streak that will help the Bruins massively.
Charlie McAvoy is the Bruin’s best defender despite his struggles this season. He usually quarterbacks the powerplays and power play kills but is below average. If McAvoy can emulate more on the man advantage and give Boston some helpers on even strength that would help the offense. Brad Marchand is another dependable player who hopefully will have a better second half.
The Boston Bruins have been a powerhouse in the NHL for a long time. In the first half of the season, they had many issues and their record is not where they would like it to be. The Bruins risk missing the playoffs if they don’t get it together and make changes. Stay tuned for more NHL stories and news.
Featured Image: Photo by Danielle Parhzkaran /The Boston Globe via Getty Images
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