What We Learned: Who’s going to stop the Bruins?

You can say the Boston Bruins’ trade deadline haul of Hampus Lindholm and Josh Brown was underwhelming. But the way things have gone lately, and for most of the season, they might not need a ton of help.

OK, yes, there were the early-season goaltending issues that came from having a rookie who might just be a star in this league soon splitting the crease with a solid veteran who just got a big-money contract. And then even after that settled down, there was the three-way duel between those two goalies and the borderline Hall of Famer signing after missing about half the season with an injury.

That issue, too, resolved itself quickly (and not really to anyone’s satisfaction), but since that whole thing ended, the Bruins have been a wrecking ball. From Jan. 25 — the day after Tuukka Rask’s final NHL game — to the present, the Bruins are 17-6-3, good for a top-five points percentage in the league. And three of those regulation losses came while Jeremy Swayman was getting his legs back under him and, slowly, locking the No. 1 job in a stranglehold he does not seem intent on giving up.

In fact, if you zoom in slightly further and look at the Bruins’ performance from Feb. 12 on, the points percentage (.800!!!) is the best in the league by a fairly wide margin. They have a goal differential of plus-23, including plus-27 at 5-on-5. Staggering numbers. 

And that’s with guys like, oh I don’t know, Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand missing some games here and there.