David Pastrnak and Jeremy Swayman are deserving All-Star candidates as the Bruins continue to lead the Atlantic Division.
The 2023–24 Boston Bruins have a goal for the season. The club that last year broke the NHL regular season points and victory records is motivated to recover from the devastating first-round setback that eliminated them from the Stanley Cup playoffs.
The young Florida Panthers defeated the Bruins in seven games, with overtime accounting for their defeat in the seventh game. The unexpected loss left scars that Boston head coach Jim Montgomery and his team had to endure all summer.
The Bruins had to deal with the retirement of their two best centers in addition to that heartbreaking defeat. Patrice Bergeron, a future Hall of Famer and six-time Selke Award winner as the NHL’s finest defensive forward, made the decision to end his playing career. One of the league’s most inventive playmakers, veteran David Krejci, joined him on the bench.
Though neither Bergeron nor Krejci felt motivated to start for the Bruins this season, it seems like they could have both been reliable contributors if they had chosen to play.
Many predicted that the Bruins would have a tremendous decline this season after their disappointing finish to the previous campaign and the departure of two of its greatest players. The Bruins were predicted by some to qualify for the playoffs as a Wild Card club, but more pessimistic pundits predicted they wouldn’t even get that far.
remarkably successful start to the year
The Bruins once again proved they were among the league’s best teams when the season started. They dominated the competition early in the season, starting with a 9-0-1 record, and they kept getting better, winning 14 of their first 18 games to take a commanding lead over the opposition.
The Bruins have been getting clutch goals from David Pastrnak and new captain Brad Marchand, and they have been playing excellent defense even without Bergeron and Krejci to guide them.
Defense has been the greatest strength of the team for more than a decade, going back to the days when Claude Julien served as head coach of the team from 2007 through 2017. When Julien was let go, Bruce Cassidy gave players more offensive freedom but he kept the same defensive system. Montgomery has attempted to enhance the offense further while maintaining the team’s defensive strength.
The Bruins are still leading the Atlantic Division with a 19-5-6 record, six points ahead of the Toronto Maple Leafs in second place, despite slowing down a little in December. In the Eastern Conference, they trail the New York Rangers, who have 45 points.
Pastrnak has led the Bruins’ offensive and is unquestionably deserving of an All-Star selection.
There’s no denying that Pastrnak is among the league’s greatest players when it comes to huge goals and offensive performances. He just had a season in which he scored 61 goals, the most in the league, and he possesses an incredible shooting.
With 19 goals and 24 assists in Boston’s 30 games, he leads the club in scoring. There hasn’t been a slump this season. To catch Toronto’s Auston Matthews, who leads the NHL with 26 goals, he might need to go on a tremendous hot streak, but he can definitely accomplish it.
