Bruins Defense Holding Steady After Early Struggles

BRIGHTON — For a team that prides itself so much on being a solid defensive unit, the Boston Bruins were anything but to begin this season.

Many expected the Bruins to be an impenetrable brick wall in their own end as they entered the year touting the league’s biggest blue line. It turned out, though, that they were merely constructed of straw and sticks.

Game in and game out, Boston collapsed at the first sign of trouble during the first quarter of the season. One-goal deficits would turn into two, two into four, and so on.

However, since interim head coach Joe Sacco took over behind the bench on Nov. 21, the defense has stabilized, and the Bruins suddenly look like the team they were expected to be at the outset of the season.

“We’re keeping the puck moving north and making the right play coming out of our defensive zone,” Sacco said Tuesday morning at Warrior Ice Arena. “One of the toughest things is coming out of your own zone clean, and it’s very hard these days. Teams put a lot of pressure on you, so we’re making the right read, whether it’s a tape-to-tape pass or sometimes you just have to flip it in the space in the neutral zone and let the forwards go get it.”

In the six games under Sacco, the Bruins are 4-2-0  and are yet to allow more than three goals in a single game.

To make the sudden turnaround all the more miraculous, the Bruins have been playing without defenseman Hampus Lindholm for the entirety of this run.

Lindholm had been the lone bright spot within the black hole that was Boston’s back end before he suffered a lower-body injury on Nov. 12 in St. Louis. According to Sacco, Lindholm is still weeks away from rejoining the team, but the Bruins are getting by in the meantime.

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The Bruins have cycled through every defense pairing imaginable in Lindhholm’s absence. Parker Wotherspoon has continued to be the plug-in-and-play type of player that’s made him so effective since coming to Boston last season.

Recently called-up Jordan Oesterle has also found a way to affect the game and his teammates.

While Skating next to Oesterle during Boston’s last game against Montreal, top defenseman Charlie McAvoy had his best game of the year so far, with two goals and a plus-4 rating.

“It freed Charlie up to play his game a little bit more,” said Sacco. “I thought Charlie played a really solid game because his reads were very good. He was joining the play at the right time. His rush reads were excellent. As far as defending the rush, he was keeping the game in front of him too, so they seemed to feed off each other well.”

A career journeyman, Oesterle is used to playing second fiddle to the game’s elite defenders, which is a unique skill in itself.

“He played a simple game, kept the game in front of him, and didn’t try to do too much or force too many plays,” Sacco said. “It was pretty solid defensively, and that’s what we’re looking for from Oesterle, especially if you got to play with Charlie.”

Whether it be between McAvoy and Oesterle or any of the other Bruins make-shift defense pairings, forming a connection begins and ends with communication.

“It’s all about communication, first and foremost, and I’ve learned that from guys that I’ve been fortunate enough to play with, whether it be Zdeno Chara, Torey Krug, or certain guys like that,” Brandon Carlo said. “I kind of just kind of bring that element through each pairing that I’m with, and I feel comfortable playing with anybody. I enjoy the challenge.”

Carlo and the Bruins better enjoy the challenge because it’s becoming the new normal.

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