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Hampus Lindholm, Boston Bruins (Amy Irvin / The Hockey Writers)

3 Takeaways From Bruins’ Bounce Back Victory Over Avalanche

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers
By Hannah Garfield | Last updated 10/17/24

The Boston Bruins entered their fifth game of the 2024-25 season with a 2-2-0 record, facing off against a winless Colorado Avalanche in Denver. The Bruins were coming off of a frustrating loss to the Florida Panthers, their second loss to the team so far in the young season. So far, the fourth liners have been some of the most impressive players on the team, and the focus was on whether or not some of the team’s top players could get something going in this matchup.

The Bruins gave Joonas Korpisalo the start in goal while Colorado had Alexandar Georgiev, who has struggled mightily so far. Additionally, head coach Jim Montgomery decided to sit Morgan Geekie and Justin Brazeau, both of whom have had slow starts to the season.

It was not a perfect game, but the Bruins showed great effort from start to finish, playing one of their most complete games of the young season. They emerged victorious, winning 5-3 with five different goal scorers in Cole Koepke, Charlie Coyle, David Pastrnak, Hampus Lindholm, and Johnny Beecher. Despite it only being a one-goal game throughout much of the third period, Boston was definitely the better team. It was really just a few bad penalties and at least one goal that could be considered soft by Korpisalo keeping Colorado close.

Defense Continues to Play an Important Role Offensively

Defense has been a big talking point for the Bruins so far in the 2024-25 season. They’ve struggled to consistently get offense out of their blueliners in the past few seasons, and general manager (GM) Don Sweeney helped to address that this offseason by bringing in Nikita Zadorov. In the first few games, they succeeded in getting more offense from the blue line, which was on full display in the game against the Avalanche.

The Bruins had two goals in the first period, one from Koepke and the second from Coyle on the powerplay. Both goals were instrumental thanks to great plays from defensemen. For the Koepke goal, Andrew Peeke had great awareness keeping the puck in the attacking zone and put the shot on net that Koepke deflected. The Coyle goal came off of a phenomenal pass from Mason Lohrei.

In the second period, Lindholm had an unassisted goal and got the primary assist on Pastrnak’s powerplay goal. The only goal the defense didn’t have a role in was Beecher’s empty netter in the final minutes of the game to put it away.

The actual defense still needs some work, though it was definitely better against Colorado than they’ve shown so far this season. But the offense coming off of the blue line has been the best it’s been for the Bruins in several seasons. Boston has registered 20 goals so far this season, and a defenseman has been credited with an assist or the goal itself on 16 of them.

Fourth Line Continues to Excel

There has been a lot of praise for the Bruins fourth line through the first five games of the season and they continued their excellence last night against the Avalanche. The fourth line, consisting of Koepke, Beecher, and Mark Kastelic, now has six goals and 15 points in five games. With both Koepke and Beecher scoring against the Avalanche, they had two out of the team’s five goals on the night.

The three of them are also making the plays when they don’t have the puck on their stick. In the second period, Beecher had an excellent screen on Lindholm’s goal. Koepke has looked excellent on the forecheck. Kastelic was great in the faceoff circle, recording six wins and only two losses against the Avalanche.

Fourth lines are sometimes referred to as the “energy line” and that certainly rings true for this trio. There is a noticeable difference with the team when they are on the ice versus when they are not. They have been the Bruins’ best line so far in 2024-25 and it hasn’t been particularly close.

Mixed Bag Night for Special Teams

The Bruins had the 23rd-ranked powerplay in the NHL coming into the Colorado game. They had only a 11.1% conversation rate and had not scored on their last 12 powerplays. While their first one of the game did not go well and brought that number up to 13 unsuccessful powerplays in a row, they were finally able to break that streak on an excellent goal from Coyle. Additionally, they were able to add a second powerplay goal in the second period from Pastrnak.

The powerplay still needs plenty of work, but it was good to see guys clicking on the ice and finally getting some momentum behind it. Even their first of the game saw three shots on goal. The Bruins are finally getting some pucks on net with the man advantage, and hopefully, that can continue into their next games.

On the flip side, the Bruins’ penalty kill had a poor showing as Colorado scored on all three of their powerplay opportunities, keeping the game within their reach until the final moments. As mentioned, some of the goals should have been stopped by Korpisalo, particularly the third one, but overall, the kill was just not as strong as we’ve all come to expect from Boston. Montgomery and his coaching staff certainly have their work cut out for them to get both special teams up to par.

Jim Montgomery, Head Coach of the Boston Bruins (Jess Starr/The Hockey Writers)

Special teams have been an up-and-down area for the Bruins in recent seasons. In 2023-24, they had one of the top penalty kills in the league, but could not seem to figure out the powerplay and the issue persisted into the playoffs. So far, those issues have reared their head again in 2024-25. Similar to having to see if this game will build positive momentum for the powerplay, we’ll have to wait and see if this is the beginning of a more concerning downward trend for the penalty kill.

Keeping an Eye on Moving Forward

The Bruins’ game against the Avalanche was only the first stop on a three-game road trip that won’t conclude until early next week. There are a number of questions and things to keep an eye on for the team as they head into their next game.

The first and most pressing is the health of Brad Marchand who left the Avalanche game midway through the second period and did not return until a few minutes into the third. He has had a slow start to the season and is still looking for his first goal. Additionally, there are personnel questions surrounding whether or not Geekie or Brazeau could go back in and who would go out in their place. Personally, I’d like to see Geekie on the third line with Matthew Poitras over Max Jones and Riley Tufte, who haven’t impressed so far in the regular season. Tufte in particular has not been very good after a solid preseason. He had zero points, and two penalties against the Avalanche, both of which led to Colorado goals.

Finally, the big storyline to continue to keep an eye on is the Bruins’ top six. Coyle finally got his first goal of the season against the Avalanche and while the top two lines had some flashes, they continue to be overshadowed by the excellent play of the fourth line. Boston’s top guys need to get some momentum going and hopefully, they can build off solid moments from the Colorado game.

The Bruins now sit at 3-2-0 on the season with six points, tying them for the top of the Atlantic Division with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers. Their road trip continues on Oct. 19 against the Utah Hockey Club and then the Nashville Predators on Oct. 22.