The Boston Bruins aren’t off to a better start this season. They currently have a record of 6-7-1, which places them fourth in the Atlantic Division. Additionally, they have been shut out in three of their last eight games. Head coach Jim Montgomery had words with Brad Marchand and also benched its star player, David Pastrnak. You’d prefer this kind of start now rather than in March, but the Bruins need to be sharper.

This is a team that struggled mightily in five-on-five play and was looking for an influx of offense. Additionally, the special teams play wasn’t executed as much as you would like. If there is one area to improve, it is the numerical inferiority.

Penalty issues have become costly

Regardless, the Bruins have become a heavily penalized team. As it stands, they have the most penalty minutes with 175 and the closest team is the Los Angeles Kings with 155. Nikita Zadorov leads the team in that regard (25 minutes), but seeing stars like Pastrnak with 16 penalty minutes isn’t ideal either. It’s difficult to ask your best player to step away from the game. Is it due to frustration? Is this all mental? Are these personnel being deployed? Players like Derek Forbort and Jake DeBrusk are gone. Both were good goal-killers and responsible defensively. In fact, the Bruins had an 82.2% success rate with DeBrusk, which is huge. Regardless, the Bruins gave them trouble and it became a problem.

Related: Tommy’s Take: Special teams plague Bruins in 4-0 loss to Maple Leafs

This is not a recipe for success, as giving teams the opportunity to take advantage of the extra man can burn you. It certainly burned the Bruins and played a role in some of their early season losses. In their last game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, it made the difference. The Bruins have the most penalty minutes, but they have done a poor job on penalties.

Whether it’s a good or bad decision, you have to eliminate the penalty. The teams feasted on their opportunities and it hurt the club. The Bruins, as a shorthanded unit, allowed the fourth-most shot attempts, which translated into the fourth-most shots on goal. Teams get a lot of chances and also some high quality ones. The Bruins gave up the fourth most dangerous attempt AND 20 very dangerous shots. Sounds bad, doesn’t it? Well, it’s worse.

THE The Bruins have given up the most goals while he was shorthanded (15). The teams are making them pay for their sins and have yet to stop the bleeding. If the Bruins want to have penalty problems, they need to do a better job of eliminating penalties.

How the Bruins’ penalty kill can improve

Bruins’ defensive system has changed under assistant coach Joe Saccowho also directs the penalty. The Bruins have often been lost in coverage and teams are able to set up and find open space to create chances. It was the same on the penalty kill. There’s no denying that the penalty kill needs to improve, as it ranks 20th in the league with a 76.2% success rate. So how can he improve?

The obvious solution is to stop taking penalties. You cannot be marked while down if you stay outside the box. However, the Bruins can improve and teams don’t have as much success against them.

When it comes to the chances of the Bruins conceding, teams are able to shoot shots from the blue line without any problem getting them through. These chances help create rebounds, which leads to more dangerous chances. Even though they’ve done a good job limiting opportunities closer to the net, they’re still giving up the middle of the slot. The most important thing the team can do is start blocking shots and getting into shooting lanes.

In the game against the Maple Leafs, Morgan Rielly struggled to land shots from the blue line, and the Leafs scored two goals from there. Defenseman Brandon Carlo addressed this issue and talked about what the unit could do.

“I think we were allowing them to get into the zone too easily…those shots from the point, we just have to get in front of them, in front of them,” he said.

The Bruins have bigger bodies and should use their big size to their advantage. Getting into shooting lanes and challenging the opposition is very useful. Being more disciplined comes with time, but units have to be better if they want to get into trouble.

The Bruins need to improve the penalty kill

Teams are relishing the digital opportunities the Bruins give them. Units must congest shooting lanes to give up fewer quality chances when down and the team must find a way to stay out of the box. Penalty issues have cost the team games and need to improve in the future.