Abundance of penalties is No. 1 problem Bruins must fix right now
Abundance of penalties is No. 1 problem Bruins must fix right now originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
The Boston Bruins have a lot of issues to fix after their first eight games of the 2024-25 NHL season, but the No. 1 problem that must be addressed ASAP is the abundance of penalties this team is taking.
This Bruins roster doesn’t have the offensive firepower or the defensive talent to take four or more penalties every game and consistently rack up victories.
The Bruins’ losing streak reached three games Thursday night with a 5-2 loss to the Dallas Stars at TD Garden, dropping their record to 3-4-1 through eight games. Boston took five penalties, and Dallas scored three power-play goals as a result. It was the difference in the game. But it wasn’t an isolated incident, either. The Bruins have given the opponent four or more power plays in seven of their eight games.
And these aren’t just unlucky penalties or bad calls. Sure, there have been a few strange penalty calls, but many of these infractions are due to a lack of discipline, a lack of focus, and a lack of attention to detail.
For example, B’s defenseman Parker Wotherspoon took a bad interference penalty in the second period against the Stars. He tried to pin Stars forward Matt Duchene along the boards even though the puck was well past them. It was an easy call for the referee, and the Stars went on the power play, where Logan Stankoven scored to give his team a 3-1 lead.
David Pastrnak took two penalties against the Stars and both resulted in power-play goals for Dallas. The second one — a tripping penalty in the attacking zone — resulted in a 4-1 Stars lead after Tyler Seguin scored against B’s goalie Jeremy Swayman.
A three-goal deficit is pretty much an insurmountable one for the Bruins right now given all the trouble they’re having scoring goals.
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…
