by Bob Morello
Bruins look to keep pace
The National Hockey League’s Atlantic Division thus far in the 2025-26 regular season has been a tight, tough division. How tough you ask…well at press time on Tuesday, the Tampa Bay Lightning with 28 points, held onto the top spot in the Atlantic Division. Second place was occupied by the Detroit Red Wings (27), trailing were the Ottawa Senators and Boston Bruins, evened up with 26 points each. The Montreal Canadiens and Florida Panthers were knotted with 25 apiece, while the Buffalo Sabres held seventh place with 22, and the Toronto Maple Leafs in last place at the bottom of the Atlantic division with 21. Currently Montreal and Florida tied for fifth spot could move up to second place with one, two-point victory. The narrow margin from first place to last place in the division is presently only seven points. The point margins are magnified with losses, especially when it turns out to be a team that gets mired in a slump, much like the Bruins who have lost four of their last six games (2-4-0) played. Coming into their Wednesday game versus the New York Islanders, the locals were struggling on offense, having scored just six goals total, in their last three games on the road (losses to Anaheim and San Jose, sandwiched around a win in Los Angeles). Further magnifying the lack of putting the puck in the net, was that Bruins forward Morgan Geekie had authored five of those six goals himself, positioning himself as one of the NHL’s leading scorers.
The continued lack of discipline still continues to plague Boston, as in their last six games, a Bruins player had a seat in the penalty box 25 times. It was only due to their superior penalty-killing team’s success in 22 of those instances that saved them. Coach Marco Sturm has repeatedly stressed the importance of staying out of the box, along with presenting a net-front-presence, sometimes appearing to fall on deaf ears. The latter is one of the main reasons General Manager Don Sweeney has attempted to fill the lineup with bigger, more physical players in his past off-season moves. Coach Sturm will continue to make moves with a roster that has been decimated lately with injury hits, both on the blueline with the losses of Charlie McAvoy and Jordan Harris, along with key forwards Viktor Arvidsson and Casey Mittelstadt, while he attempts to find the right combinations to keep pace. A bright spot was the return of center Elias Lindholm to the lineup. Following an October 30th knee injury.
On Friday, the New York Rangers will visit TD Garden, along with former Bruins coach Joe Sacco in a 1:00pm matinee. This will be the start of a five-game run that will have the Bruins playing four of their next five games on home ice. The Detroit Red Wings will be hosted by Boston on Saturday (7:00pm), in a back-to-back series that will have the Bruins traveling to Detroit on Tuesday (7:00pm), to face the Wings on their home ice, Little Caesars Arena. The final two games rounding out the week will be on TD Garden ice, and will feature visits from the St. Louis Blues (Thursday 7:00pm), and the New Jersey Devils on Saturday (7:00pm).