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Boston Bruins Key Takeaways (The Hockey Writers)

3 Takeaways From the Bruins 3-1 Win Over the Capitals

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers
By Tommy Bennett | Last updated Oct 9, 2025 8:35 AM ET

The Boston Bruins begin the season on a strong note. They stormed into Washington, D.C. and took on the Capitals. With a strong performance, Marco Sturm got his first win as a head coach, seeing his team win the game 3-1. There was plenty to digest from this game, so let’s dive into it.

Jeremy Swayman Is Back

Last season was one to forget if you were Jeremy Swayman. It did not go as planned, but he did play better as the season went on and dominated at the World Championship. Coming into Game 1 of the 2025-26 season and with a clean slate, Swayman was dialed in from the start.

Swayman was sharp and even picked up on miscues from his defensemen at the beginning of the game. Hampus Lindholm almost coughed one up right in front of the goal crease to give the Capitals an early lead. Despite the Bruins scoring the first goal, the Capitals dominated the shot totals and controlled the play of the game. Every ounce of rubber that was fired his way was stopped, and the Capitals did very little to make Swayman uncomfortable.

When the game concluded, Swayman had stopped 34 of the 35 shots he faced. Furthermore, he finished the game with a whopping 3.22 goals saved above expected. He was completely dialed in and was a large reason the Bruins were in this game for the entire 60 minutes.

Bruins Low Event Offense

The Bruins’ scoring was always a concern going into the 2025-26 season. Of course, their lone goal came off the stick of their most valuable offensive asset in David Pastrnak. The other concern was how this team was going to generate offense. What type of pressure would they be able to create? The answer everyone got in the first game was very little.

It’s all about capitalizing on the chances that you do get, and that’s what the Bruins did. However, they had a very low event offensive output. At five on five, this game was primarily in favor of the Capitals. The Bruins got dominated in the expected goals share 2.26-0.8 for the first two periods of the game. Furthermore, they generated just five high-danger chances in all situations. Quality was not on their side in this matchup, but aside from getting manhandled in the second period, they got the better of the Capitals in the first and third periods.

The Fourth Line Was Effective

The top line delivered, as you’d expect. Pastrnak scored the first goal, and then he and Elias Lindholm connected on the power play for the go-ahead goal. However, when it came to the rest of the lines, the fourth line stood out the most amongst the group. The line of Marat Khusnutdinov, Mark Kastelic, and Sean Kuraly was effective.

This trio can do a lot of special things, and things we saw in this game. They are relentless on the forecheck, bring that physical element to the lineup, and can generate offense when getting pressure into the zone.

Khusnutdinov was particularly noticeable. He brings a ton of speed to the lineup and has a nose for creating offense. That trio did that in this game. When on the ice, they out-attempted the opposition 9-4 and controlled the expected goals share 89.6% of the game. You’d like to see some finishing ability, but to be able to run a line out there that can control the play of the game is huge.

Big Victory Against a Good Team

The Capitals are a good hockey team. But this was a good win for the Bruins. They played with structure and got production from their top guys. Swayman had a stellar performance, and this is a great way to head into the home opener on Thursday night.