We are now past Thanksgiving, the traditional NHL demarcation line that supposedly separates the haves and have-nots. If you are in the playoffs by this time of year, history tells us that the odds are in your favor that you’ll be in the playoffs come April.

That would suggest that the Bruins, still leading the Atlantic Division by six points, are safely ensconced in the post-season for a shot at redemption from last season’s failure. But one rather larger question remains about this team.

Who and what are these 2023-24 Bruins exactly?

One thing they are not is a team that can outscore its defensive lapses. In their 14 wins, they’ve kept their opponent to two goals or fewer. In their six losses (three regulation, three overtime) they’ve allowed more than two. The last week was particularly ugly. In going 1-2-1, they gave up 17 goals in the three losses.

We should have seen coming the lost weekend in which they allowed a dozen goals in two games. The terrific Jeremy Swayman/Linus Ullmark tandem has covered up some serious blemishes that have been evident on most nights this season. According to the Natural Stat Trick website, they have allowed 173 high danger chances against, which ranks them a mediocre 15th in the league and not befitting a team that boasts a 14-3-3 record.

When their goaltenders have an off — or even an average day — things can get ugly. The B’s started poorly in the Black Friday game against Detroit at Boston and the Rangers at MSG and, in these games, the goaltending simply could not bail them out. They fell down 2-0 in both occasions and never led in either of them. Against the Blueshirts, they allowed a season-high 19 high danger chances against. Though Ullmark didn’t have his best game, it’s impressive that the Rangers only scored seven with the talent that they have.

Coach Jim Montgomery has harped on the team’s rush defense all season long, to varying degrees of success. But on Saturday in Manhattan, he saw other cracks in the armor.

“We’ve been giving up a lot of chances, right? But the east-west chances are something we hadn’t been doing as often,” Montgomery told reporters in New York on Saturday.

Is it a time for Bruins fans to panic? No, not if they went into this season with a clear-eyed view of what this team had lost, not counting the late-season acquisitions – two foundational centermen (Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci) and a third pivot who fit the B’s system well (Tomas Nosek), a pair of good role wingers (Taylor Hall, Nick Foligno) and a good third-pair defenseman (Connor Clifton). All things considered, the start they’ve had has been a credit to, first and foremost, the goaltending and, secondly, to the team culture of a strong work ethic. When either of those traits take a holiday like they did over the weekend, it’s not going to go well for the B’s.

While the B’s need to tighten up their team defense, they also need their best players to be just that. In the loss in New York, Charlie McAvoy was minus-3 while Brad Marchand has been fighting the puck the last couple of games. David Pastrnak also got beaten back up ice on the K’Andre Miller’s back-breaking goal.

But they were always going to be a work-in-progress throughout this season. This past week was a good reminder of that. …

Quick hits

Complaining about the Department of Player Safety decisions is akin to complaining about the weather. It’s futile.

But it should be noted that the NHL’s supplemental discipline department cut Ranger defenseman Jacob Trouba a huge break by giving him just a $5,000 fine for his two-handed baseball swing of his stick that landed on Trent Frederic’s helmeted head. There didn’t appear to be an injury but sometimes, as we’ve come to learn, head injuries are not always recognized immediately.

No penalty was called on the play, which is more forgivable. The game happens fast. But how someone in an office can watch the replay of this egregious high-stick infraction and not think it was suspension-worthy is beyond me.

Should it be a lengthy suspension? No. But a one- or two-game suspension would not only have been just, it would also force the league to highlight it in one of its Law and Order style videos. It might be good to let the kids know it’s not OK to hit your opponent upside the head with your stick. Instead, the league opted to treat it as a nothing-burger. Nothing to see here, folks.

The B’s host the Rangers on Dec. 16. Let’s hope they circle that game on the calendar for the right reason, which is to avenge a loss that in Charlie Coyle’s words was “unacceptable.” Looking for vengeance on Trouba would be a waste of time. The Panthers went into Wednesday’s game looking for retribution on McAvoy for his high, late hit on Oliver Ekman-Larson that earned him a four-game suspension. They delivered a couple of questionable hits on McAvoy but by the second period, the Panthers didn’t have much left to give and lost the game.

But if a big, clean hit on the Ranger captain presents itself, by all means the B’s should take that opportunity. God knows Trouba would. …

The B’s were set to travel on Sunday to Columbus where on Monday they will the Blue Jackets, who were 6-11-4 going into their Sunday matchup against Carolina. But it’s no time for the B’s to exhale. After some tough-love benchings of stars Johnny Gaudreau and Patrik Laine by new coach Pascal Vincent, the Jackets had won two straight.