The biggest problem for the Boston Bruins during their slow start to the 2024-25 season

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Joshua Deeds
October 26, 2024 (10:37)

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The Boston Bruins have a record of 3-4-1 and for the first time in a long time many fans don't have hope for the team.

They play a disheveled and unorganized game of hockey and haven't been able to stop something they have in abundance, and it isn't goals.

It's penalties! The team has shown under Jim Montgomery how undisciplined they are, as they lost 5-2 to the Dallas Stars, who are consistently firing on all cylinders.

Unlike the Bruins who have suboptimal offensive power in the lineup, with arguably only Elias Lindholm, David Pastrnak, Brad Marchand, and Pavel Zacha being able to drive offense.

The penalties are rising, and not purely out of terrible calls or anything of the sort as some of the team shows their lack of attention to detail on the ice.

One example was Parker Wotherspoon's penalty on Matt Duchene, where he pinned him to the boards way past the play's end.

This resulted in Logan Stankoven scoring on the power play and giving the Stars a 3-1 lead.

David Pastrnak would take two penalties on the night, one tripping penalty which led to Tyler Seguin scoring on Jeremy Swayman to gain a 4-1 lead over the B's.

The Bruins wouldn't be able to overcome the massive lead that the Stars would have during the game.

Pastrnak only took 16 penalties last season with an average of .66 penalty minutes per 60 minutes played during the 82-game season last year. This year he's increased it with 7 penalties, and a 2.72 average.

Pastrnak took 16 minor penalties in 82 games last season. He took 0.66 penalties per 60 minutes. He has already taken seven minor penalties in eight games this season. His 2.72 penalties taken per 60 minutes is absurdly high and leads all Bruins forwards who've played more than two games. Pastrnak is way too important to the Bruins to be sitting in the box so often. That's not why he's paid an average of $11.25 million per season.

"I honestly can't remember taking this many penalties in my career as it is this season," Pastrnak told reporters after Thursday's game, via WEEI's Bridgette Proulx. He later added: "Definitely bad on my part. Can't put the team in a shorthanded situation twice in one game. I definitely took too many penalties today. I need to take better care of my stick.»

The Bruins lead the league in penalty minutes with 110 this season. With 48 total penalties so far this season, they lead all 31 other teams with seven more PIMs. They should aim far, far lower where they were last season ranked 7th, despite playing a heavy game, they need to play disciplined.

«Our penalties have come when we're not aggressive,» head coach Jim Montgomery told reporters after Thursday's morning skate. «When you're playing aggressive and you're on your toes, you're causing turnovers, and if you're taking penalties, they're from aggression. You don't mind penalties from aggression. You don't like penalties when they're because you're a second late and it's a stick infraction. Those are the ones that really bother me.»

If Jim Montgomery is as confident as he is above, these penalties are easily correctable. They should be the first thing to clean up in practice for the team, along with Montgomery finding the offense that is currently lacking right now for the Bruins, as the top-six performance has been dismal.

It's been so bad that they've placed Pavel Zach back into a center position and demoted Charlie Coyle who has 1 goal in 8 games.

The Bruins will need to tighten up in multiple areas, as the GM Don Sweeney has left the team short-handed, as offensive talent isn't as deep as it used to be. Remember Taylor Hall? Me too.