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NHL Mid-Season Grades: Atlantic Division Breakdown

By Matt Duscharme

Jan 17, 2017; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews (34) and Buffalo Sabres forward Jack Eichel (15) look for the puck at the Air Canada Centre. Toronto defeated Buffalo 4-3. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 17, 2017; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews (34) and Buffalo Sabres forward Jack Eichel (15) look for the puck at the Air Canada Centre. Toronto defeated Buffalo 4-3. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports /
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BOSTON BRUINS

Current Record: 22-19-6 (52 points)

Boston has had a pretty average season so far, they have an average goals-for-per-game with 2.50 but they are also average on the defensive side allowing 2.52 goals-against-per-game. And that equals out to 120 goals for and 121 goals against, yet again very close and very average. Which means the offense has some issues from time to time scoring goals and the defense has a tough time here and there stopping players from scoring them.

FORWARDS: B+

Brad Marchand
Brad Marchand /

has been fantastic so far this year putting up a very respectable 45 points in 48 games.

Behind Marchand there’s David Pastrnak with 33 points in 41 games, then there’s David Krejci at third in team scoring with 29 points in 48 games. David Backes and Ryan Spooner are tied with 22 points apiece. Many fans expected Backes to put up a significant amount of points, but he’s been more on the defensive side so far this year.

Then there’s Patrice Bergeron with 21 points, after that the rest of the forward core is at 13 and under.

DEFENSE: B-

While surprising to some and not others, Zdeno Chara no longer leads the Bruins offensively, that job has been passed down to Torey Krug who has put up 29 points in 48 games so far tieing him with Krejci for third in team scoring.

However, after Krug, every other d-man in Boston plays a shutdown physical role. Players like the above mentioned Zdeno Chara being accompanied by Brandon Carlo, Colin Miller, Kevin Miller, Adam McQuaid, and John-Michael Liles. All of whom average more than 15 minutes per game.

GOALIES: B

Tuukka Rask has been hot winning 22 times in 37 games while posting a .919 save percentage with a 2.11 goals-against-average.

After that, the backups have been quite weak. Anton Khudobin was brought in to help Rask, but in the end, he’s played much like Jhonas Enroth has for Toronto.

Zane McIntyre came in to fill a backup slot and in doing so, hasn’t been great either. With Malcolm Subban still not ready for NHL play, Boston has to figure something out with one of their two backups cause Rask can’t play every game.

BIGGEST SURPRISE: D BRANDON CARLO

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT: ANTON KHUDOBIN

Anton Khudobin was brought in for one reason, and that was to take stress off Tuukka Rask. But he’s yet to do anything significant, he’s only played eight games gathering one win with a .885 save percentage and a 3.06 goals-against-average.

OUTLOOK:

The rest of the season for Boston is quite simple, score more goals and allow a lot less. If they can do that they may be able to pass Ottawa in the division and get a stronger foothold in a playoff position since they currently sit in 7th.

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