Normally, leading the league is a good thing.
But the Bruins are now tops in the NHL in one stat they'd prefer not to be.
Michael Frolik's shorthanded goal in the first period of Thursday's game against Calgary was the ninth shorty allowed by the B's this season, breaking a tie with the Penguins for the most in the league.
"That's one that's frustrating because we felt like we had numbers back and they get the puck in the crease and end up scoring a goal," Torey Krug said after the game, a 6-4 Bruins win. "It is what it is. Our power play came back and got one back so it's part of it. As the year goes on, we're going to have to start locking it down a little bit because those are big goals in timely situations."
The nine shorthanded goals are already within one of the 10 shorties the B's allowed all of last season -- and Thursday was their 41st game of this campaign, marking the halfway point. That means they're exactly on pace to tie a dubious franchise record, as they gave up 18 SHG during the 2006-07 season.
It's not all bad news for the Bruins power play; they entered Thursday's game with the fourth-best PP unit in the NHL, scoring at a 27.1 percent clip, and improved upon that rate with a 2-for-4 night.
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