Should David Pastrnak Win the Hart Trophy? w/ Conor Ryan Bruins Beat

CLNS Media Sports Network

Today, Evan Marinofsky is joined by Conor Ryan of Boston.com to talk about a Bruins time that is in the middle of a scoring frenzy right now. Since the holiday break, the Bruins offense has found its stride, and everybody is getting involved on the scoresheet. What changed? How sustainable is this? And could David Pastrnak make a case for himself to win the Hart? That, and much more!   Topics:  - Bruins are getting scoring from everywhere finally  - Trent Frederic is playing his best hockey  - David Pastrnak is a legit Hart candidate  - Bruins have a massive stretch of games coming up   This episode of Bruins Beat is brought to you by Fanduel Sportsbook, the exclusive wagering partner of the CLNS Media Network. Visit FanDuel.com/BOSTON and start earning BONUS BETS with America’s #1 Sportsbook!

Transcript

00:00 This is like a whole new team. I mean, we didn't expect this.

00:03 Defensively, they have some issues.

00:05 They have not been as outstanding as they were in net at the beginning of the year.

00:10 But that scoring is starting to rear its very beautiful head.

00:15 [MUSIC]

00:24 And welcome into the Bruins Beat on CLNS Media.

00:27 My name is Evan Marinovsky and today I am joined by Connor Ryan.

00:33 Connor, what is up?

00:35 Evan, I'm doing well. How are you doing?

00:38 Doing great. Doing great.

00:40 Great weekend for hockey in America, the US.

00:44 Wins World Juniors.

00:46 Big, thrilling, not very close win over Sweden on Friday.

00:52 Great game. I haven't had a chance to really talk about it,

00:56 but I know you were watching. I was watching.

00:58 Your boy, Lane Hudson from BU didn't back down.

01:02 He might be an enforcer for the Bruins.

01:05 I mean, they might need that at some point.

01:08 I mean, a pretty good game for a few BC guys. Give them credit as well.

01:12 Ryan Leonard, great.

01:14 Blown a kiss to the crowd. Made everyone so upset.

01:18 All those Canadians who'd be sending absolutely horrific stuff to Americans

01:22 if they beat them a gold medal game.

01:23 But then they take the moral high ground as they tend to do.

01:26 We're outraged by it. I don't know.

01:28 Maybe win the fucking game.

01:29 Or for the Canadians, get past, you know, get into the medal round.

01:33 Yeah, this hits at a take that I've had for a while.

01:39 I think Ryan Leonard's going to be such a good pro.

01:43 I think Ryan Leonard is going to become sort of that ultimate villain type character.

01:48 He plays on the edge. He scores with ease.

01:52 Like I just to me, I think he's going to be such a good villain with the Capitals.

01:57 And, you know, again, obviously you got Wilson on that team and others.

02:02 But when when the time comes for him to join that team,

02:05 whether it's next year or the year after, my hunch would be he stays at BC another year.

02:09 So next year, next year in college hockey, we will get

02:13 Iserman with BU.

02:15 My guess would be Celebrini's gone.

02:18 That's just my guess.

02:19 But I don't know. He could stay.

02:20 Maybe he stays.

02:20 I hope.

02:21 It'd be cool for us.

02:22 I'd be stuck around.

02:23 And then on the BC side, if Smith Leonard Perot stay, you'll have them.

02:28 You'll have James Hagen's.

02:30 So it'll be it'll be it'll be a great rivalry as it continues.

02:35 Will you be going to any of those BC BU games coming up?

02:38 I think I'm going to be over at the Beanpot.

02:40 I don't think I'm going to be at the the the two matchups in late January,

02:44 but we'll see.

02:44 Maybe we'll make a surprise appearance.

02:46 We'll come smashing through the wall at the Kool-Aid Man.

02:48 With your BU jersey on.

02:51 Yes, that'll be great.

02:52 Yeah, I don't know.

02:52 Maybe I'll I'll be I think I'll be at the Beanpot,

02:55 but I haven't planned on late January.

02:58 Those games I always forget.

02:59 They always come up and then I'm like, oh, I should go get tickets.

03:01 And then those are sold out.

03:03 So like you're not getting those.

03:04 Yeah.

03:04 But anyways, a good win for the US.

03:07 No Bruins prospects in the game.

03:10 That I none that I can think of.

03:14 Yeah, Dan's locks.

03:16 Dan's luck, Mellis and the tournament.

03:18 He had a good tournament.

03:19 Obviously, Patra was out early with Canada, so that was that.

03:22 Bruins had a good weekend.

03:25 Big 7-3 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night.

03:29 The scoring is there, Connor.

03:32 This is like a whole new team.

03:34 I mean, we didn't expect this.

03:35 Defensively, they have some issues.

03:37 They have not been as outstanding as they were in net at the beginning of the year.

03:42 But that scoring is starting to rear its very beautiful head.

03:48 Yes, no, it's popping up out of the ground.

03:51 Like, do you see the dude stuck in the vase on Twitter?

03:54 Yeah, I did see that.

03:55 Like popping out of the vase like that's the offense.

03:59 Yeah, I mean, what is it now?

04:01 Four plus goals and I think six straight games.

04:04 I think the esteemed Ty Anderson said they haven't had a stretch like that since I think

04:08 it was like 2011 where four plus goals over that amount of games.

04:13 And that was 2011.

04:16 That was the beginning of that 2011-12 season, right?

04:19 I believe so.

04:20 Yeah, yeah, I think it was like everyone riding the momentum after the after the cup when

04:24 people like we don't there's no such thing as a Stanley Cup hangover.

04:27 Yes, I digress.

04:31 But no, it's really encouraging to see.

04:34 I mean, you're seeing, of course, the the key playmakers like Pasternak deliver.

04:39 Martians been playing well.

04:40 Like, I think you look at, you know, we'll talk about Pasternak a little bit there.

04:44 But, you know, scoring 30 seconds after that Kucherov goal, we feel like the momentum shifting.

04:48 That's kind of what you've come to expect from a guy as elite as Pasternak.

04:52 But as I think we've talked about before, I think the biggest key as to why this team

04:56 is rolling right now offensively is so many other, you know, guys maybe further down the

05:00 lineup, but still key contributors to this team are pushing them over the top, right?

05:05 You look at like Trent Frederick, who I think has what, five goals in his last four games.

05:09 Jake DeBrus gets that, you know, the empty net goal, which I think was a byproduct of

05:14 Victor Hedman's stick exploding, obliterating, like just the worst timing ever.

05:19 But as Jack Edwards would say, an ode to the composite stick.

05:22 And then he's like, yes, yes.

05:25 So that that would be Victor Hedman on that.

05:26 But yes, so but still, even with that kind of fortunate bounce for DeBrus, which, again,

05:31 he hasn't had a whole lot of those fortunate bounces, and now they're all kind of coming

05:34 at the same time.

05:34 So he's got, I think, eight points in his last five games.

05:38 So I think you do have a situation where a lot of these key players are really pulling

05:45 their weight offensively and supporting what we've come to expect.

05:48 I think at this point, we can say that guys like Jake DeBrus or Frederick can give you

05:52 20 goals in a season.

05:54 We know what David Pasternak is going to do over the span of a season.

05:56 But when you have the other players that are all chipping in, it just makes a really dangerous

06:03 lineup from top to bottom.

06:04 The other line is really not scoring right now is the fourth line, which, again, I feel

06:07 like that's due at some point whenever they get the kind of right mix in there with that

06:11 three man grouping.

06:12 Yeah, they're getting scoring.

06:14 The top nine right now is Morgan Geeky.

06:17 Another one like you're getting guys throughout that top nine that are kind of producing wherever.

06:23 And I think the biggest embodiment of that is Trent Frederick.

06:25 You mentioned it five goals in his last four games, five goals and three assists in his

06:29 last seven, like producing at center, producing at wing.

06:34 They had him at wing on Saturday night, and I think he's just growing into his game.

06:41 And we've seen this.

06:42 We saw this last year, but we were like, you know, he's playing with like Taylor Hall.

06:46 He's got some better line mates than him.

06:49 What's he going to look like?

06:50 You know, he talked preseason about wanting to drive play and kind of be the guy on his

06:55 own line.

06:56 And what we're seeing now is no matter who he's with, he's producing.

07:00 And I think, you know, when push comes to shove and the playoffs come around, you know,

07:04 I think I would love to see the coil Frederick and Ben Reamstein line back together.

07:10 Or you would love to see, you know, Frederick maybe kind of on the wing with a guy like

07:16 Patra because he's a bigger, more intimidating body, all that stuff.

07:20 But I just think with what he's been able to produce and how he's sort of finding his

07:25 way, more and more, he looks like a legitimate piece to this team for a while because he's

07:31 going to give you that physical element, but he's also going to register on the score sheet.

07:35 You've seen that in these last bunch of games.

07:37 Yeah.

07:37 And again, I think it gives full credit to both the Bruins for sticking with him for

07:41 so long and Frederick for kind of carving out this role.

07:44 And it's like, you know, I've been someone who is, you know, maybe skeptical as to what

07:49 kind of player Frederick was, whether it's, you know, he broke out last year.

07:52 Was that a flash in the pan?

07:54 Was it a, you know, just an unrealistic shooting percentage, but you look at the way he's

07:59 playing now, I think he's found that right balance of what he needs to do.

08:02 You know, like I think that game on Saturday is like the perfect microcosm of maybe his

08:06 potential and what he can be moving forward where he gets that first goal, his first career

08:10 power play point, like a goal scorer's goal right there.

08:13 We were like, wow, that, you know, that, that was impressive there.

08:16 He had one, I think a few days ago, was it against Columbus where he kind of dragged

08:20 the puck, hesitated for a second.

08:22 It had a really nice finish there.

08:23 Like he's scoring, you know, goal scorers goals.

08:25 It's not like it just rebounds or tips or anything like that.

08:28 He's really, I think, feeling confident in the offensive zone, but the other play that

08:33 stands out though, he didn't get an assist on it, but I think it was McAvoy's goal,

08:36 where he absolutely, you know, runs over what's his face, the defenseman for Tampa

08:41 Bay in the neutral zone, blows him up.

08:43 It goes right to the net and creates enough traffic that lets McAvoy shot, you know,

08:47 from the blue line go through.

08:48 Like that's the exact, you know, example of what you're looking for, for you know,

08:52 maybe a, a power forward in today's NHL, right?

08:55 Like there's very few guys that are still like that.

08:57 Like maybe hell Tom Wilson, a couple of guys, but it's almost like Frederick, you know,

09:01 is now knowing what he needs to be.

09:03 And it's, I'd rather you be just a big body kind of guy that can be physical, but also

09:07 has a goal scorer's touch.

09:08 Then a guy trying to either replicate, you know, a style play that's maybe not conducive

09:14 today's game.

09:15 Like I'd rather him be like Nick Paul of like six, three active engage can give you

09:20 a 15 to 20 goals than being something he's not.

09:23 And I think it's, it's kind of a weird kind of play to put in one little criteria, like

09:28 as to what a guy like a Nick Paul or a Frederick can be.

09:31 But I'll tell you what, those guys, when they're playing at a high level can be really damn

09:34 impactful players wherever they are in the lineup.

09:36 Yeah.

09:37 It sounds simplistic to say, but you almost need him to be a hybrid of physical and goals

09:42 and production wise, because that's when he's at his best, right?

09:45 When, when we've seen him in the past, when he's just looking for fights, he's ineffective

09:49 because the rest of his five on five play suffers when it's, you know, when he's not

09:55 being physical and he is looking to score and this and that he's a little bit more ineffective.

09:59 So like if he's just both, if he can be physical and make smart hockey plays, like the one

10:05 you just mentioned and occasionally chip in on the score sheet, uh, to me again, I think

10:09 there's so much potential there because that's what you need.

10:13 You need a guy like that, that can do that every night.

10:17 And he hasn't proved yet that he can do it every night.

10:20 I think that's sort of the last or one of the last big things he needs to prove, but

10:25 it is there.

10:26 Like there is that potential.

10:27 There is that, uh, I don't want to say ceiling, but you know, he has that in him and I think

10:32 it's, it can be frustrating.

10:34 I think fans get very frustrated with him at times when that's not there.

10:37 Cause you know, it is.

10:38 And I think, uh, if the, you know, I've said this a lot this year about different guys,

10:44 Carlo Lindholm, the goal tending, like if the brood should go far in the playoffs, it's,

10:48 you know, they're going to need this.

10:49 I mean, they're going to meet, they're going to need everybody gunning, but they're really

10:53 going to need Trent Frederick to be what he was on Saturday night, which again, it doesn't

10:59 happen every night.

10:59 That's fine.

11:00 But, um, you, you would ideally like that to be the case.

11:04 Uh, before we get into, uh, David Pasternak, cause there's, we, we have not talked nearly

11:09 enough about David Pasternak this year.

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11:49 So Connor, with the all-star game, uh, guys getting picked early and it being, you know,

12:01 January, you know, it's getting it's mid season.

12:04 So it's a good time to evaluate.

12:06 And I think with David Pasternak, we sort of expected him to produce.

12:10 Um, I, you know, when we talk about the offense, we always say aside from David Pasternak

12:15 and Brad Marshan, uh, and we kind of dive in everybody else.

12:18 We never really focused much on Pasternak.

12:20 Uh, but David Pasternak is fourth in the NHL in points with 55.

12:24 Uh, he has been consistent.

12:27 He has done it without Patrice Bergeron or David Creechie in the middle.

12:31 He has done it with Zaka on the wing at center.

12:34 He's contributed on the power play quite a bit.

12:36 And there's a lot of valid heart trophy candidates this year, Panarin and McKinnon,

12:43 obviously McDavid, McCar's on page like 90 points.

12:46 But Kucherov is like number one in the NHL in points.

12:51 It's fucking terrifying that, that, that team is so top heavy and they were fucking terrifying.

12:56 Every time that line was out him in point.

12:58 Incredible, incredible line.

13:00 And, and he is, he is as lethal a score I think as there is in the NHL, just like a

13:07 Viper, you know, like just comes out of nowhere and can just snipe one.

13:10 Uh, but the Kool-Aid man, yes, busting through the wall.

13:13 Uh, but Pasternak is right there with all of them.

13:16 And I think he has consistently, uh, strengthened his heart trophy candidacy because, you know,

13:24 the Bruins are not the same offensive team as they were last year.

13:28 You know, I know they're in first and nationally with other voters that might hurt them who

13:32 don't follow the Bruins as much and just think, Oh, the Bruins are continuing on with what

13:35 they were doing before, but he's been like the main guy up front now for months on a

13:41 first place team, uh, and fourth in the NHL in points.

13:44 I feel like he is there.

13:46 I'm not going to put him over McKinnon or Kucherov quite yet, but he's right there,

13:52 right?

13:52 Yeah, no, he's absolutely, I think in the mix.

13:54 Right.

13:55 And again, you can have the detractors to say that maybe his, you know, defensive game

13:59 needs work, whatever, like he's so good offensively and he's so important, especially to this

14:04 team that I think he absolutely warrants a consideration.

14:07 Just how important he is to this current team.

14:09 And I think you look at it, right?

14:11 Like there were people who thought that like his game is going to take a little bit of

14:14 a step back when he just doesn't have the amount of proven playmakers, right?

14:17 Like you've had Burge run for years.

14:19 You've had David Creechie.

14:20 You had all these guys that were fantastic playmakers around him and not to reduce his

14:25 role, but like he was viewed as kind of just the, the, the trigger man, right on a lot

14:28 of those lines.

14:29 And again, damn good at it, but how much can he kind of completely drive a line by himself?

14:34 Um, and I think, I mean, you've seen it and it's a testament to how good he is that a

14:38 guy with as good as his releases, he's still on pace for the most points in his career.

14:43 And I think he's on pace for like, he's going to smash his career high in terms of

14:46 assists per game.

14:47 Like he kind of reads whatever the defense is giving him and whether it's, you know,

14:51 finding seams on the power play, um, driving plague, having guys like, I mean, Morgan geeky

14:56 right now is up to seven goals and 15 points in his last 20 games.

15:00 You know, we, we've been high in the geek squad, but to have them all of a sudden be

15:03 on pace for like a 40, 50 point season, I think a lot of it has to do with the guys

15:07 you have around you as well.

15:08 And when you have a guy like David Poster, not extending you, uh, some of those saucer

15:12 feeds and, uh, setting you up makes things a whole lot easier for you.

15:15 So, um, I think when you look at both, just how good Pasternak has been individually this

15:20 year of showing that he can kind of just control a game and shift momentum of a game by himself

15:25 and just the way this team is structured, where you just desperately needed.

15:28 Yeah.

15:29 A cheat code essentially in the offensive zone and David Posternick's been there.

15:33 And again, it's great seeing all these other players step up and really start contributing

15:37 now, but where would this team be, especially earlier on this year, when you had so many

15:41 guys trying to find their footing and the one thing you could rely on was David Poster

15:45 and lighten the lamp early and often for this team.

15:47 It's I can't understate it.

15:49 I was going to say, I mean, if David Poster went down, this team would be mightily screwed,

15:56 especially early on.

15:58 Now, I guess you have other guys contributing, but even still, it would be a crazy blow.

16:03 And again, the other thing is, and you hit it, the playmaking, the chance creation, you

16:07 know what I mean?

16:07 Again, if he had 24 goals and like nine assists, it'd be like, ah, well, he's scoring a lot

16:12 still, but he's not, you know, producing, you know, well-rounded or anything like that.

16:17 He's got 31 assists, as you said, like he's going to smash his career high and assists

16:21 and he's, and he's helped his line mates.

16:24 And I just think again, when you look at all that, it's tough because as valuable as he

16:29 is to the Bruins, like McKinnon's valuable as hell to Colorado and Kucharov to Tampa

16:34 and McCard in Colorado as well.

16:37 And like, you have all these guys, Panarin with the York, like you have all these pieces.

16:41 So it's not just the Bruins, right?

16:43 Like, obviously I think Pasternak might be the MVP of the Bruins right now.

16:47 But at the same time, it's hard to say, you know, he's definitely the heart trophy candidate

16:52 favorite for the, for the entire league.

16:56 But again, he's been outstanding.

16:59 And I mean, again, I'm curious to see how this continues because if they move Zaka back

17:04 to the middle, if they put Zaka back at the right wing with Patra or Geeky back on the

17:10 right wing with Patra.

17:11 I've loved Geeky, the Geek Squad, man.

17:13 It's a real thing.

17:14 Like you, I mean, I've said you were right on that.

17:17 And like, he's just productive.

17:21 Like he's not fast.

17:22 You know, it's like, it's not showy.

17:26 It's not flashy.

17:27 He just kind of gets the job done.

17:29 Like, I think I think I saw one tweet.

17:31 I think I saw one tweet where it was like, why is it that every single Geeky goal is

17:34 like the exact same thing?

17:35 It's like, like, just a standard shot.

17:37 Like, it's a good shot, like always beats the goalie clean, but it's like the same play.

17:41 Every single time.

17:42 Like that's that's Geek Squad, man.

17:43 Just gets work done.

17:44 Just shows up.

17:45 You leave him alone and he's going to get the job done.

17:49 Yeah, it's like Verizon Fios.

17:51 It's exactly that's right.

17:53 The Verizon Fios.

17:54 He'll fix your laptop for you.

17:56 You don't have to worry about it.

17:58 Yes, he'll just, you know, he'll just do his thing.

18:00 Like he's like, like if you're a boss and you have an employee that you don't have to

18:04 tell to do, he just does it.

18:05 And that's Geeky.

18:06 You know, he just does what he's got to do.

18:07 So the Geek Squad's been great.

18:10 Coil's been great.

18:11 Like, again, we've touched on it before, but the center depth on this team, you know, you

18:16 could say what you want about, oh, they don't have a elite true number one center.

18:20 They don't really need it right as of right now.

18:24 Like Coil's been outstanding.

18:27 Zaka's been fine on the wing and he's been fine down the middle.

18:30 Geeky and Patra and Frederick stepped in.

18:34 Like they have been fine there.

18:36 And I think they're starting to kind of, they're getting, they're getting fortunate because

18:41 they've won a bunch of their past bunch of games and it's working out.

18:44 So maybe it's because they've been eating their HelloFresh, Connor.

18:48 That was the key to the scoring.

18:50 I started eating HelloFresh and they said, you know what?

18:52 We just can't stop scoring goals.

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20:24 Now back to the show.

20:26 Lot of big games coming up.

20:28 Bruins are going to go out west, but not like the cool California trip.

20:32 They're going to like the southwest.

20:33 You've got Colorado, which is tonight, Monday.

20:38 Again, we're recording that.

20:39 Well, this will go out on Tuesday.

20:40 So it was last night.

20:42 What a game that was, Connor.

20:43 Oh my God.

20:44 Unreal.

20:44 The stars were out.

20:45 People were posting comments.

20:46 Yes.

20:46 The stars were out.

20:48 So there was that.

20:50 Arizona and then Vegas and St. Louis.

20:54 Maybe the Bruins are going to take Torrey Krug home.

20:57 They're like, "Oh, we'll let you come with us."

20:59 But that's a big stretch.

21:02 That's like the St. Louis is like, you know, that meme where it's all like the army rangers

21:06 lined up against the wall.

21:07 And so one clown is like in the front of St. Louis in that group.

21:12 It is.

21:12 This is a St. Louis hating podcast, but I don't think people will object.

21:19 No, I think our comment section will be more than happy to shit on the blues.

21:22 But we would think preseason it would have been Arizona that would have been the clown

21:26 in that grouping.

21:27 By the way, that meme never gets old.

21:29 Yeah, they still are.

21:30 That's true.

21:31 They're still playing at a college rink.

21:32 This is true.

21:34 I mean, I've never been to Mullet, but I saw like someone took a video from the stands

21:39 and it looks like you're sitting at Warrior.

21:41 Like in the way the stands are, it's the same rows and everything.

21:44 I mean, it's funny.

21:46 So a while back, my girlfriend and I were thinking of going out to Arizona this time

21:53 of year just to go somewhere warm for like a couple of days.

21:56 I was like, "Oh, the Bruins are there in early January.

21:59 Let's look at tickets."

22:00 And they're exorbitantly priced.

22:02 I mean, it's insane on the SeatGeek and TicketMaster.

22:06 And it's like, "Oh," because you would think Arizona, Bruins, Coyotes would be cheap.

22:10 But because it's like a 5,000 seat arena, it's really expensive.

22:15 So I put them in that clown category too.

22:19 They're good on the ice, but I'll put them in the same clown category.

22:23 But this stretch, these four games, I know Colorado already happened by the time people

22:26 are listening.

22:27 Poke the Bear will cover Colorado much, much, much more in depth than this.

22:32 But what are you looking for out of this trip?

22:34 What do the Bruins have to gain other than getting four wins?

22:38 Yeah, I mean, obviously you got a couple of tough matchups.

22:41 I think the biggest thing to look forward to is just how the defense can kind of hold up

22:45 against some of these really high-powered offenses, right?

22:47 You look at like what Colorado can do.

22:50 Arizona has been a team that I think is kind of designed to give the Bruins trouble in

22:55 terms of how fast they are.

22:56 Like, again, there's a reason why they've been really successful.

22:59 They attack, they hound the puck, really aggressive on the four check.

23:03 And then Vegas is kind of know what Bruce Cassidy is going to throw at them, but they

23:07 also have enough really high-powered guys that can make life difficult for you in a

23:12 hurry.

23:13 So again, would you like to keep seeing the Bruins score four-plus goals?

23:17 Yeah, of course.

23:18 Like, I don't know how much more you can keep that train rolling.

23:20 I think it's more just having these guys like Geeky and Frederick and DeBrusk and

23:25 Potts are even feeling confident, continuing to stack together really good performances.

23:29 But I think the biggest thing is just how that defense holds.

23:32 Because again, you'll take the offense.

23:34 It's frigging fantastic.

23:36 One, it's not what you viewed as kind of the main strength of your team going into it.

23:40 And it's kind of destined to dry up, especially once you get to the playoffs, when the games

23:44 get that much tighter.

23:46 So having the defense really kind of sort itself out and at least show more signs of

23:51 being, I think, the grouping that we expected them to be this year is going to be the biggest

23:54 thing I'm going to be looking for during this road trip.

23:57 Bingo.

23:58 That's the biggest thing.

23:59 Defense.

24:00 Structurally, you got to be more sound.

24:01 Can you shut down a team like Colorado?

24:05 Can you shut down a team like Vegas?

24:06 You should have no problem shutting down a team like St. Louis.

24:09 And same with Arizona to an extent.

24:13 So to me, I agree with you on that.

24:15 I think the goaltending getting back on track.

24:17 I know that they've been fine, but can you get back to that level of where you somewhere

24:22 near where you were at the beginning of the year on the road in these away environments?

24:29 I wouldn't mind seeing that.

24:30 I mean, it's kind of all around.

24:32 Like the offense was a problem for a while.

24:36 The goaltending was outstanding.

24:38 And then as of late, the defense has those cracks in the defense have sort of shown themselves

24:44 more.

24:44 The offense has been outstanding.

24:46 So it's like, can you find a balance?

24:49 I know it's January, so you'd like that balance to come in April and May.

24:52 But I do think that over this stretch coming up, defense is the number one thing structurally.

24:59 But anyways, Connor, that's been this edition of Bruins Beat.

25:03 What can the people look forward to from you over Boston Globe and Boston.com?

25:08 Yeah, well, I'll be covered every step of the way this season, whether it's game recaps,

25:12 features, columns, breakdowns, all that good stuff you can find over at Boston.com.

25:18 So you can read all my stuff there.

25:20 If you want to follow me on Twitter, you can @ConnorRyan, I'm at discord93.

25:24 Go do all that.

25:26 That's Connor Ryan.

25:27 I'm Evan Marinovsky.

25:28 You Bruins Beat listeners.

25:29 Have a great rest of your week.

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