The Bruins have been uncharacteristically poor to begin this season.
Charlie McAvoy and the Boston Bruins have their eyes on making the playoffs in 2025. After all, the Bruins came within two games of the Eastern Conference Finals when they lost to the Florida Panthers earlier this year. However, things are not going well for Boston in the early going of the young 2024-25 campaign.
The Bruins are tied for sixth in the Atlantic Division entering play Friday. Boston’s seven points are level with the Buffalo Sabres and only two more than that of the last-place Montreal Canadiens. While one single point separates them from seventh place and second, it’s an uncharacteristically poor start from this team. In saying this McAvoy is not looking to panic right now.
“We don’t like these results. We’re acknowledging that,” McAvoy said, via NHL.com. “This is a bit of new territory for us to have this happening early in the year after these last couple years where we’re usually just gangbusters. I think a little bit of our attitude is, it hasn’t won us anything being the best team in October. We’re fine. We’re not going to panic. It’s game eight. Hopefully we’ve got a lot of games left and we’ll keep getting better.”
Charlie McAvoy, Bruins take responsibility for poor start
Charlie McAvoy and the Bruins are accustomed to storming out of the gate, as he alluded to. A poor October certainly doesn’t secure a playoff spot for any team. Boston is well aware of this. However, a poor October can pull the playoff rug from under any team. Especially if a poor October becomes a poor November.
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Boston players believe the issues with the team are fixable, though. For instance, there are some players who are getting their feet under them. Elias Lindholm, Jeremy Swayman, and captain Brad Marchand missed time during training camp for various reasons. Overall, though, the on-ice problems are not insurmountable by any means.
“A lot of the mistakes that we’re making and the reasons that we feel we’re losing is because of our lack of respect for the game and consistency in details,” Marchand said, via NHL.com. “Those are things you can fix. When you have a lack of effort and guys just not caring, that’s a whole different issue and that’s not what we have.”
The Bruins certainly need their key players to step up on the ice. Cleaning up their mistakes is the first step toward turning things around in the early going. Boston retakes the ice on Saturday when they continue a three-game homestand with their hated rival Toronto Maple Leafs.
