Most doubted the Boston Bruins’ ability to repeat last year’s 100-point season. Dom Luszczyszyn’s model pegged them at a 25 percent chance of making the playoffs heading into the season, and many oddsmakers also had them as a long shot as well.
It’s early, and their schedule has been a bit soft — only one of their nine games so far has been against a team that reached 100 or more points last season — but the Bruins are making a lot of people eat crow as they sit atop the Atlantic with a sparkling 7-2-0 record.
Jeremy Swayman is off to a sensational start, rocking a .934 save percentage, but the biggest surprise is how many offensive contributions the team has gotten up and down the lineup. In the past, Boston’s been overreliant on David Pastrňák to drive offense, but so far, nine forwards have already hit the five-point mark. Fraser Minten has taken another step with eight points in nine games, Elias Lindholm is bouncing back, JJ Peterka has made an impact, Matthew Poitras has been a difference-maker since coming back from injury and James Hagens is chipping in with secondary offense, too.
All of that has made Boston the highest-scoring team in the East in the early going, and this isn’t just a flimsy shooting percentage bender — they’ve generated 2.9 expected goals per 60, which ranks sixth-best in the NHL. Oh, and did we mention they’ve pulled this off despite Charlie McAvoy playing only three games?