By: Tom Calautti | Follow me on Twitter/X @TCalauttis
The Boston Bruins completed the first major road trip of the 2026-27 season last night when they fell to the Dallas Stars in overtime 3-2. Over the course of the four games in California and Texas, the Black and Gold went an impressive 3-0-1 and currently sit atop the Atlantic Division with an overall record of 7-2-1.
Despite the disappointing result in last night’s contests, there was a lot to like about how the Bruins played during their stint on the west coast. With that in mind, here are three major takeaways from Boston’s road trip.
Young Guns Steal the Show
It’s no secret that if the Boston Bruins were going to return to the postseason they’d need some of their young guns to step up. With six players under the age of 25 (Matt Poitras, James Hagens, Fraser Minten, Marat Khusnutdinov, JJ Peterka, and Frederic Brunet), it’s almost a necessity that they step into bigger roles in order to augment this roster. They did just that across the team’s last four games, pacing the offense and contributing in every contest.
Things got started in San Jose where the B’s took on an the up and coming Sharks. Fraser Minten was the star of the show in that contest, posting two goals en route to the team’s 6-3 victory. In addition to Minten’s pair of tallies (his third and fourth of the season) other youngsters made sure they got in on the action. JJ Peterka assisted on Charlie McAvoy’s first of the season, Matt Poitras scored his second of the year, and Khusnutdinov added an assist on Minten’s second goal.
Boston then traveled to Anaheim where they prevailed over the Ducks 4-2 on Friday night. Rookie defenseman Frederic Brunet got his first NHL goal when he snapped a wrister through traffic that bounced past Lukas Dostal. Then the Bruins’ big guns combined for two power play goals and Matt Poitras potted the insurance goal to put the game out of reach. James Hagens logged assists on both the Brunet and Poitras tallies.
Saturday night was a bit of a slugfest in LA but the Bruins persevered and extended their win streak with a 4-1 victory. Khusnutdinov scored the eventual game winner and logged an assist while Peterka potted an empty-netter and both Minten and Poitras added helpers.
Last night’s contest was another excellent showing for Boston’s youth group as they took on a defensively stout Dallas Stars Squad. Poitras opened the scoring with a one-timer off a sweet feed from Brunet and Hagens notched the second goal almost halfway through the second.
All in all, it’s pretty clear the Bruins’ successful west coast swing was a direct result of their young talent. In total, Boston’s six 24-and-under skaters combined to post 9-8-17 over their four road games (3-1-4 for Poitras, 1-2-3 for Hagens, 2-1-3 for Minten, 1-2-3 for Khusnutdinov, 1-1-2 for Peterka and 1-1-2 for Brunet). That means 40 percent of the team’s overall point production came from the young guys.
You really can’t ask much more than that out of the adolescents on the roster. Boston will need more out of its big guns going forward, but you can’t help but be encouraged by the steps their youth have taken so far this season.
Goaltending Stays Strong
It’s impossible to mention any win streak in the NHL without giving credit to the goalies, and Boston’s netminders were particularly sharp over the team’s last four games. Despite the travel, quality of offensive competition, and sometimes wavering support, both Jeremy Swayman and Michael DiPietro stood tall when called upon and backstopped the Bruins to a successful roadtrip.
Swayman backstopped the Bruins three of the four game nights, posting a record of 2-0-1. In those games Swayman allowed a combined seven goals, made 82 saves on 89 shots, and posted a save percentage of .921. He also save an impressive 2.91 goals above expected in thos games.
DiPietro was given the tall task of handling the high-flying Anahiem Ducks and their dynamic offense. Despite facing a team with three budding young stars, Boston’s backup goalie held his own, saving 26 of 28 shots and posting a .929 save percentage all while saving 1.71 goals above expected.
Stats usually tell most of the story with goaltending, but what Boston’s backstoppers did best was keep the damage to a minimum when their skaters didn’t have their A-game. Swayman withstood several second period barrages from the Sharks to keep the game knotted at two, kept the LA Kings from converting on any of their serious threats, and did everything in his power to hold onto a 2-2 tie against the Stars.
DiPietro surrendered two first period goals against Anaheim, but that score could’ve been significantly different had he not been as sharp early on. The Ducks outshot and outchanced Boston 15-7, and had a whopping eight high-danger chances in the first 20 minutes. If not for some early heroics, that game could’ve gotten away quickly.
Goaltending is an area the bruins knew they’d be able to hang their hat on coming into this season, and it was one of Boston’s sharpest units on this road trip. Swayman was his usual stellar self, and DiPietro got his first of hoepfully many wins in his NHL career.
Defense Steadily Improving
One area the Bruins were unequivocally dreadful in last season was five-on-five team defense. According to Moneypuck.com, Boston ranked 27th in the NHL with an abysmal 178.25 expected goals against during the 2025-26 season. Management acknowledged the problem in the offseason and vowed to make tangible improvements in that department. It’s still early, but so far the Bruins defense core has taken a noticeable step forward in that department.
The B’s only six even strength goals over the course of their four game road trip, an impressive number given just how porous this team’s backend looked at times last season. Credit should definitely be given to their goaltenders for papering over some holes, but all-in-all the defense has looked like it’s a level above last year.
I would argue the two biggest reasons for this improvement have been the injection of Will Borgen and Frederic Brunet into this lineup. Both defenseman are solid skaters who have excel at taking away time and space from their opponents. That ability to close makes them perfect fits for Marco Sturm’s man-on-man defensive structure, and allows the Bruins as a whole to play a more aggressive style.
Being able to sprinkle Charlie McAvoy, Hampus Lindholm, Brunet, and Borgen through the d-core allows Boston to have a solid, reliable defender present on every shift. None of them are perfect, and this team still has a ways to go when it comes to easing the load off their goaltenders, but in my opinion the additions of Borgen and Brunet make the team night and day better than last season with Jonathan Aspirot and Andrew Peeke.
This is still a defense that has to limit it’s mistakes and stop turning pucks over in dangerous areas, but on the whole it feels like this trip showcased that they’re heading in the right direction. If Boston wants to take another step forward, it’ll needs its even-strength defense to continue taking progressive steps forward.
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