Lightning forward sends a message to the rest of the NHL on the 2025-26 Boston Bruins

During free agency and this offseason, there was one thing clear about the moves made by Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney: he wanted to make his team difficult to play against. How did he do that? He added bulk and toughness to the bottom of this lineup.

Factor in Marco Sturm's system, and you have a team that is going to pride itself in defense and goaltending. They have to do that as they are not blessed with the offensive firepower that they have had in years past. All of that was evident in their first three games of the season, all wins over the Washington Capitals, Chicago Blackhawks, and the Buffalo Sabres.

Their system and scoring were going to be tested on Monday afternoon at the TD Garden against the Tampa Bay Lightning. They dug themselves a three-goal hole twice before rallying to cut the deficit to 4-3 in the second period. That ended up being the final score after a scoreless third period, but their effort over the second half of the game to tie it didn't go unnoticed by one Lightning player.

Anthony Cirelli summed up what you can expect from the Bruins this year

Tampa Bay forward Anthony Cirelli played a big role in the Black and Gold falling into an early hole with two first-period goals. Despite being up three goals twice in the game, Cirelli knew the Bruins wouldn't quit and sent a message to the rest of the league when you them in 2025-26.

"They never gave up and there's no quit in them," Cirelli said. "They kept coming and coming. We had too many penalties, too many turnovers, which hurt us, but (Johansson) was huge back there and made unbelievable saves. It came down to the wire, but it was nice to get the win."

Keep coming and coming is exactly the way that Sturm wants his team to play. Make things difficult for the opponent in all three zones. They did that against Tampa Bay, and they will in each of their 78 remaining games. The only question will be, will they find enough scoring to win more than they lose?

Broncos admit a major problem with signing of former All-Pro player

After the Denver Broncos beat the New York Jets in London, one of the specific areas head coach Sean Payton was displeased with was the kicking game. And after returning stateside, Payton and the Broncos wasted absolutely no time addressing his frustration.

The Broncos have reportedly signed former Saints safety and special teams ace JT Gray, who was previously on the Baltimore Ravens' practice squad. Better late than never, because when the Saints surprisingly cut Gray, just about everyone thought he would end up reuniting with Sean Payton and Darren Rizzi in the Mile High City.

Instead, Gray decided to sign with the Ravens' practice squad, and he has yet to log a single snap this season.

Broncos (finally) sign special teams ace JT Gray after kicking game disaster vs. Jets

So far this season, the Broncos have allowed 761 kickoff return yards in six games. That's the 3rd-worst number in the league right now. They gave up a 70-yard kickoff return against the Jets in London and another couple of returns that helped the Jets do way better in the field position battle than anyone expected.

The Broncos have also allowed 29.3 yards per return this season, which is the worst number in the NFL.

I think everyone expected more out of the hire of Darren Rizzi, which I personally felt was one of the best non-head coach hires of the entire 2025 offseason. Rizzi's reputation on special teams precedes him, and a player like JT Gray is evidence of that. Gray has made multiple All-Pro teams for his ability in kick coverage, and the Broncos are calling on him to fix a major problem area of the roster right now.

The new kickoff rules were supposed to benefit the Broncos more than anyone else, but that hasn't been the case at all. And let's be honest, JT Gray alone isn't going to fix an issue like this. The Broncos' entire coverage unit has to be better and more consistent, or they'll be better off just giving teams the ball at the 35.

It isn't fair to the Denver defense at this point that the special teams keeps setting them up with short fields to work with, and that starting of field position will be a problem against teams other than the New York Jets.

On the one hand, you appreciate seeing the Broncos acknowledge a clear weakness so far this season. On the other hand, you can't deny that this is the team putting a Band-Aid over a gaping wound, and the pressure should be firmly on Rizzi and not a player like JT Gray.

At this point, we don't know exactly who Gray is replacing, but the Broncos are calling on reinforcements to address one of the worst areas of the team so far this season.