With last night’s win over the Pittsburgh Penguins the Boston Bruins have secured the top spot in the Eastern Conference just after the quarter point of the season. So everything has been fine right? Well, Believe it or not I have found a few things that have concerned me moving forward with the Boston Bruins this year. Of course, those are coupled with many positives so lets run down the list, positive and negative.

Goaltending:

Positive: Tuukka Rask has picked up right where he has left off. There doesn’t appear to be a downturn or lax in his game at all. Some were worried about the big contract getting to his head. Others worried about fatigue from last year but neither of those have been a problem for Rask.

Negative: First, I don’t think Chad Johnson has played enough so far for my liking. I am a little concerned about the amount of playing time Rask has had this year and I would like to see more off-days for Rask. My other concern is more of a selfish concern from a Bruins fan’s prospective. Tuukka Rask had one of the best games of his career in New York a few nights ago against the Rangers and it probably wasn’t a coincidence.  He was playing in front of scouts for the Finland National Team. It appears as though Rask may have played himself into a starting role for the Finnish Team; increasing his chance for injury (knocking on wood).

Defense:

Positive: The kids are no flukes. Dougie Hamilton has stepped up his game and has played big minutes so far down the stretch. Matt Bartkowski has emerged as a solid defenseman who has a great head on his shoulders. Torey Krug has continued to be a scoring machine and as of tonight is tied for the league lead in goals for a defenseman. And even Kevan Miller who has had to step up in place of the injured Dennis Seidenberg has been getting big minutes, including the last minute of the game against Pittsburgh last night.

Negative: Injuries have had a major impact on the Bruins defensemen this season. The non-contact ‘lower body injury’ for Adam McQuaid was a blow the Bruins were prepared to deal with by inserting Matt Bartkowski into the lineup full time. But, the more recent injury to Dennis Seidenberg has forced the Bruins to call up Miller from Providence. The bigger issue that these injuries have raised is the increased ice time for Zdeno Chara and with the Olympics this year, that is a bad recipe for the Bruins that I’d rather not discuss.

Forwards:

Positive: The Swedes are starting to find their groove. Loui Eriksson had a 5 point game against the Penguins last night and seems to be comfortable after his concussion. Carl Soderberg has been on fire recently. He has 6 points in 5 games that has coincided with the Bruins winning 4 out of their last 5 games. Milan Lucic has stayed engaged and kept his legs moving with the help of Jerome Iginla keeping him motivated. Reilly Smith has been a welcome addition to the team and has shown flashes of skill.

Negative: Brad Marchand has been under performing and goal scoring is still an issue. While the power play is much improved, the Bruins have yet to have an easy time putting the puck in the net. The play of Brad Marchand is frankly bordering on unacceptable at this point. I think the Olympic tryout has been in his head all year and he has been gripping his stick so tight he has completely lost any semblance of his game. My hope is that when the Bruins play the Canadians for the first time on December 5^th, P.K. Subban can somehow light a fire in Brad Marchand that he needs to play his style of game.

Coaching:

Positive: It pains me to say it but Claude Julien has done a lot of things right this year. My favorite move of his is to play very aggressively in OT this season. He has been playing 3 forwards and 1 defenseman for the majority of overtime minutes so far this season. I love seeing the Bruins using this strategy to do everything possible to avoid the shootout.

Negative: The only negative I have for Claude and the coaching staff is that they need to try and do a better job of managing minutes. The Olympic break plus the extended playoff run has me nervous about injuries and fatigue for the playoff run this year. I have seen enough improvement so far in the Bruins power play so far this season that I will get off their case…for the time being.

So there you have it.  Am I picking nits? Probably, but at the same time a lot of these issues are contributing to the large problem the Bruins have had so far. They have been giving up too many goals in the final minute of periods and games. As of right now they have not shown the ability to ‘sweep the leg’. An issue that eventually came back to bite them against the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals last season. I am very happy but not surprised to see where the Bruins are this season and I only expect that trend to continue. Keep Believing and follow me @BruinsBeliever on twitter for my in-game and quick thought updates.  Let’s go Bs!