A turnaround for Boston Bruins, will they be able to keep it up? -NHL Special
The Boston Bruins showed that they are certainly not messing around before the Christmas break by taking the top spot in the Eastern Conference after ranking at the lowest point earlier in the 2011-2012 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season.
Bruins are now number one in the East with 47 points and a 23-9-1 record along with topping the North Eastern division as well.
They ended the week with a six-game winning streak and a dominating win against another Eastern strong team, the Florida Panthers, by routing and embarrassing them, 8-0, which came a game after Boston shutout the Philadelphia Flyers, 6-0.
Last season, Boston was not considered to be well endowed in regards of offensive power but this time around, they have showed that defence is not only their category of domination, they can shoot unlike anyone else as well.
"We were sitting at the 15th spot in October with a lot of criticism on us so we realize that this is a game that things change quickly and oftentimes things change through hard work and that's what I think we did the last two months", forward Gregory Campbell
said. "We worked hard, we played our game and we played consistent. It's a tough league. Every night is a battle and every night you have to compete. Wins aren't always going to flow as easily, or not as easily, but I think as pure as they have, but as long
as we're competing and playing our game, I think that's our goal right now".
The Bruins lead the league with a huge goal differential at +56, which is much higher than any other team even the second place Detroit Red Wings who have a +33. The surprising thing is that the team has not been able to take as much advantage of the power
play opportunities as they might have liked too but still can manage to trash an opponent if they feel like it.
Just imagining what they might do when they have got the right tactic to killing the penalty down is obviously pretty scary as the team can easily dominate without it.
The good thing about Boston’s defence is that they have found two goalies that are amazing in the net. Whether it is Tim Thomas or Tuukka Rask, the Bruins are assured that their men will be able to get the job done.
It is easily seen that the Bruins allow their men in the net to play at free will instead of forcing them to take certain action in different situations. Thomas and Rask have the ability to play however they want, making their natural game one of the factors
resulting in them winning.
Instead of being a team that does nothing besides fight whenever they get the chance to, Boston is now a much more disciplined team, something which coach, Claude Julien, might have wanted.
Before, the Bruins would let they anger control them which resulted in a number of players being penalised and putting Boston at the disadvantage, but now, it is the total opposite.
Keeping their game play clean is something the Boston Bruins are hopeful of keeping consistent along with having a healthy squad till the end. Their hopes are high and their working towards it without a doubt, making this season very thrilling to follow
indeed.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
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