The Panthers Have Cracked The Bruins' Defensive Armor

Normally airtight, Boston's D and goaltending have faltered when needed most.

We’re not used to seeing the 2022-23 Boston Bruins suffer defensive lapses with a game on the line. But twice in the last 10 minutes of Friday’s loss to the Florida Panthers, Boston was neither able to clear the puck from its own zone nor stop a Florida shooter from scoring, as a 5-4 lead turned into a 6-5 deficit from which the team never recovered. It was totally uncharacteristic of how this team has played all season long — yet quite indicative of where this series has gone off the rails for Boston.

A lot was written about these Bruins as potentially being the greatest team of all time, and deservedly so. They set new NHL records for regular-season wins and standings points, and demolished the opposition by more than a goal and a half per game. Offensive firepower played a big role in that, to be sure, but the real key to Boston’s success came in its dominating defense and goaltending. In terms of Boston’s overall goals-per-game margin (+1.56), about a third of that came from scoring more than the league average (+0.54); the rest came from a defense that allowed 1.02 fewer goals per game than average, the 11th-best such defensive showing in the NHL since the end of the Original Six era.