Patrice Bergeron/Second Line Saved The Day

While the first half of the 2014/15 season might not have been as successful as the Boston Bruins would have hoped, a number of alterations to their line combinations have resulted in the franchise reaching the midway point of the season in winning form.

A mediocre start to the season saw the Bruins boast a record of 20-15-6 after 41 games and that underwhelming start to the year saw the franchise begin to slip out of Stanley Cup contention.

But after recording that 20^th victory of the season, the Bruins went on to rack-up back-to-back wins that included three goals in each game.

Fans and experts alike will be feeling a lot more confident in what might lie ahead for the Bruins, if you are indeed a Bruins supporter.

If you head to http://www.bet365.com/news/en/betting you’ll see the Bruins (11/2) are now as good as third favorites with bookmakers such as Bet365 for the Eastern Conference behind only Pittsburgh Penguins (17/5) and Tampa Bay Lightning (11/2). If you are not sure about which way to turn when betting, you can check out an online sports betting guide like Wincatchers.

The alterations to the line combinations might be working at the moment but there still isn’t any guarantee that these tactics will continue to do the trick through the rest of the season. For the majority of the first 41 games of 2014-15, the makeup of the Bruins lines was the subject of much more criticism than praise.

But the tide has turned somewhat and a fresh look about this team appears to be working.

While not many players have caught the eye for the right reasons this year, let’s have a closer look at how the different Boston Bruins forward lines have done so far this season.

First Line

The Bruins’ first line has the ability to look extremely solid for a string of games and then completely fall apart for weeks soon after.

Much of that is down to the absence of David Krejci, who has struggled with fitness throughout the season and often robbed the Bruins of one of their most influential players.

The franchise’s other first-line staple, Milan Lucic, has simply failed to step up to the mark this season in Krejci’s absence.

Seth Griffith might have six goals and 10 points through 30 appearances, but when taking into consideration that half of those came in one October week, it’s clear that this first line isn’t being anywhere near as productive as it could be.

It was no surprise to see Griffith given his marching orders at the start of the year.

Still looking for a prolific goal scorer, it might be the case that an outside trade is needed to add some much needed goals to this team.

Second Line

If any of the Bruins’ forward lines has stood out this season, it’s been the second line, with regulars Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and Reilly Smith saving the day on a number of occasions this year.

While all three players might not have impressed for their all-round performances, the fact Marchand tops the goal scoring charts and Bergeron leads the team in assists and points shows just how important this second line has been.

Whether it’s the extra point against the Wings the sudden-death winner against the Florida Panthers or the 5-3 victory over Nashville, the second line has come up trumps when it really matters and proved itself to be one of the Bruins’ rare bright spots from the first half of the regular season.

Third Line

In a similar story to the second line, the Bruins third line has mainly consisted of the Chris Kelly-Carl Soderberg-Loui Eriksson combination.

As with the second line, the third line haven’t been without their issues this year. But the line-up has done enough to warrant the Bruins management maintaining faith with the trio.

While Kelly has enjoyed two very productive spells this season, the time between those purple patches has seen the veteran go on an 11-game pointless run.

But as part of the third line, Kelly and his comrades have held their own for the majority of the campaign and could have a big role to play between now and the end of the regular season.

Fourth Line

Daniel Paille and the rest of the Bruins’ fourth line have simply not been good enough all season.

Following Shawn Thornton’s departure, some felt last season’s fourth line should have been completely broken apart and built back up again rather than trying to simply patch something together and get through the year – which some critics have claimed has been the case.

Injuries and form have seen the fourth line go through a number of changes this season, with Ryan Spooner going from exciting prospect to spending a large chunk of the year in the AHL.

While the Bruins management has been quick to blame certain players for the fourth line’s failures this season, there is more that needs to be done to make sure this area of the team can find some consistency and start pulling their weight after a poor start to the year.