After six games the Boston Bruins are 3-3. They have picked up wins against the Stars, Sabres and Sharks, while they have lost to the Flyers, Hurricanes and Panthers.
Brad Marchand currently leads the Bruins with four goals and is tied for a team high in assists along with Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak, all with three assists each.
So far this season, former University of Maine goalie Jeremy Swayman has not had a good start to the season. He started the season playing well against the Stars, giving up only one goal, but he struggled against the Flyers and gave up five goals on just 24 shots against him. His last game on Thursday against Carolina was more of the same as he gave up two goals on 23 shots.
After the game versus Philadelphia, Linus Ullmrik replaced Swayman for the next three games, which led to mixed results. As it stands right now, it looks like they’re going to be splitting the duties, so we will see if one of them becomes the clear cut top goalie.
After winning back-to-back Stanley Cups, the Tampa Bay Lightning are looking to continue their dominance. Their star players, Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov, Andrei Vasilevski and Brayden Point are as dangerous as ever. They are a handful for opposing teams to deal with and will be a tough obstacle for the Bruins to overcome.
Even though the Toronto Maple Leafs have not had good playoff success, they still pose a threat to the Bruins any night they play them. With debatably the strongest top six in all of the NHL, all stars such as John Tavares, Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander. The Maple Leafs will be in contention to win the Atlantic come year’s end.
Coming off of a very successful season last year, the Carolina Hurricanes are emerging as a big threat for the Bruins. Led by Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov, the Hurricanes are currently undefeated. In goal this year for the Hurricanes is former Maple Leafs netminder Frederik Andersen, who has had a great start for Carolina.
As it stands right now, the Bruins should make the playoffs once again as one of the top seeds in the Atlantic Division. The biggest question for the Bruins now is how the young players will hold up. Barring any massive injuries, the Bruins have an almost definite playoff seat, but some of the younger players’ lack of experience could hurt them. Time will tell, but there’s one thing in hockey that will always stay the same; any team at any time can get hot and you never know how far that can carry a team.
