By: Jason Cooke | Follow me on X @cookejournalism
The Boston Bruins are suddenly showing signs of life. After an obtuse start to the 2024-25 due to a tranquil offense that ultimately resulted in Jim Montgomery’s firing, the B’s are beginning to find their form in the scoring department.
In their last four games, the Bruins have potted 17 goals for an average of 4.25 per contest amid the longest winning streak of the season. Better yet, it isn’t simply the likes of David Pastrnak or Brad Marchand that are carrying the brunt of the weight. Pastrnak (five points) and Marchand (four points) have been at the nucleus of the success, but it’s the contributors that are emerging from the woodwork that are making all the difference under interim head coach Joe Sacco.
Justin Brazeau, Trent Frederic, and Morgan Geekie have all amassed four points in as many games for the Bruins after seemingly slow starts to their respective campaigns over this stretch. In the bleak days leading up to Montgomery’s exit, supplementary scoring was hard to come by for a B’s team struggling to light the lamp. But under a new and rather simplistic style of coaching from Sacco, Boston is already lightyears ahead of what their early play was projecting.
Justin Brazeau
Brazeau, who has posted 6-8-14 this season, is surprisingly Boston’s third-highest point scorer as the team embarks on a five-game road trip on Tuesday in Winnipeg. While Brazeau showed flashes of his potential when he made his debut in Boston last season, his efforts thus far have undeniably exceeded those expectations. As a result, the 6-foot-6 winger enjoyed playing time on the second line, complementing Marchand and Elias Lindholm.
But even after a solid start to his season, Brazeau has caught fire on his first three-game point streak over Boston’s last four matchups with a goal and three helpers. Brazeau—who was tabbed as a net-front presence with the ability to protect pucks below the goal line—is emerging as a playmaker whose offense toolbox exceeds that of a bottom-six grinder.
In Boston’s recent triumph over the Philadelphia Flyers, Brazeau set up Marchand on a picture-perfect breakout pass to knot the game late in the third and force overtime. It’s that type of simple offense that is breaking through since Sacco has taken over the reins behind the bench, and it’s benefiting the game of someone like Brazeau.
Trent Frederic
After riding a five-game point drought, Frederic has potted five points in his last five games, including a two-goal outburst against the Flyers. Both of his goals were awfully similar as he banged home a pair of loose pucks in front of the net to find twine.
It’s the kind of game that Bruins fans are used to seeing out of Frederic, who netted a career-best 18-22-40 last season. Frederic has settled into a third line role with Charlie Coyle and Mark Kastelic and has appeared to have benefited from Sacco’s consistency is lineup construction compared to the constant line juggling from Montgomery.
Morgan Geekie
A 39-point season in 2023-24 left an impression that Geekie was going to break out even more come this fall, a sentiment that is finally coming to fruition in December. It’s been a season of highs and lows for the 26-year-old, experiencing a handful of healthy scratches under Montgomery while his game struggled to find its footing earlier in the season.
Geekie (4-5-9) has nearly doubled his point total in the last four games. Scoring a pair of goals against the Chicago Blackhawks, it was Geekie’s first multi-point game in a season that started in a six-game point drought.
Like Brazeau and Frederic, Geekie has found his offensive touch under Sacco to put his numbers back on a trajectory that Bruins fans hoped for ahead of the season. For Geekie, his offensive success rides on his ability to assert himself in the offensive zone. And, like Frederic, he has certainly benefited from some added security to his spot in the lineup under Sacco.
Leave a Reply