The Bruins kicked off their season about as promising as anyone could’ve asked for after losing guys like Zdeno Chara and Torey Krug. Not only that, they proved they had extreme depth at the blue line, deeper than most fans anticipated. McAvoy was and has been emerging as a Norris candidate, Zboril had been proving his maturity, Carlo has been developing as a clear leader, and Kevan Miller verified himself as the piece we so dearly needed in his time missed with injury recovery.

Not only that, the top lines were producing. The perfection line was a well oiled machine, Nick Ritchie emerged from the woodwork and was almost scoring at will on the power play, and both Rask and Halak remained a goaltending duo to be reckoned with.

Then came the injuries.

The injury bug bit hard, and spread infectiously within the locker room, similar to another virus we’re all too familiar with at this point. The blue line was hit the hardest. And when the best offense comes from a strong defense, you can imagine where the offense has gone.

Once sitting comfortably atop the East Division, the Bruins now sit one spot above missing the postseason, fortunately against the team they’ve dominated to date, the Philadelphia Flyers.

Since the injury bug found its way through the Bruins roster, understandably they’ve struggled to find their rhythm. Young defensive mistakes have increased, scoring has dropped, leadership in the front office has been questioned, and the fans want results.

I’m well aware the team is better than they’re performing right now, and I’m also well aware that all teams go through slumps, especially when injuries and inexperience have played the sizable role they have. Am I in panic mode? No. Do I think the Bruins need to make some sort of trade/acquisition/offensive addition? It couldn’t hurt.

Don Sweeney, Cam Neely, and Bruce Cassidy need to be wary of sacrificing a long term goal with an immediate need. If they can keep that in mind, this season is salvageable.

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