B’s still searching for right lineup
Well, you expected the Bruins to hit some bumps in the road, didn’t you?
The B’s 4-2 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night was another reminder that this is a team that will require constant tinkering from now until they turn off the lights at the Garden. It will be the success of that rejiggering that will determine whether the season ends in early April — as it has the last two seasons — or later.
The most pressing problem facing the Bruins right now is getting production out of the second and third lines. Coach Claude Julien tweaked the second line for the Montreal game, switching out rookie Danton Heinen for Ryan Spooner. Thanks in part to a newly motivated Spooner, the unit showed some signs it could be a threat. The line attempted 15 shots in total, eight of which hit the net. Spooner eventually found the back of the net with a power-play goal off a nice feed David Backes. On the flip side, the line was also on the ice for the Canadiens’ fourth, nail-in-the coffin tally.
The third line has been a no-show. It initially looked like Riley Nash’s insertion into the middle for rookie Austin Czarnik after two games would stabilize the trio, but it hasn’t provided anything offensively. Five games in, Jimmy Hayes, Matt Beleskey and Nash are still looking for their first point. Against the Canadiens, only Hayes managed a single shot on net (Beleskey took one that missed the cage).
As Julien so pointedly said after the game, “You need something more out of them besides minuses.” Hayes and Beleskey are minus-5, Nash is minus-1.
Here is one alternative: Bump Beleskey up to the left wing on the second line, drop Spooner down to the third-line center position, move Nash over to the right wing with Spooner and re-insert Heinen on the left side. That would take Hayes out of the mix for now but, with the way this season is shaping up, an opportunity to get back in there will present itself soon enough.
It’s easy to pick apart the two lines. The erstwhile second line would be a bit heavy, the third line a little too light. But the second combo could create the kind of bruising line that Krejci centered in his heyday with Milan Lucic on his left and Nathan Horton/Jarome Iginla on his right. It’s not a perfect replica — Beleskey doesn’t have the same hands as Lucic, and Backes is still a convert to the wing. Still, it’s worth a try.
Spooner, meanwhile, has his problems as an NHL center, and lost faceoffs are just the half of it. When the puck goes into the defensive zone, it tends to stay there. But when he’s at his best offensively, he’s using his speed in the middle of the ice. Nash could help him out in the defensive zone. As for the Heinen, let’s see if he can get his game going by playing a little further down the lineup.
Neither line is foolproof, but changes are needed.
At the defensive end, Torey Krug has said he enjoys playing on the right side for the benefits it gives him in the offensive zone, though it’s more of a challenge in his own zone. With the way he’s struggling right now, it would be best to simplify things and move Krug back to his natural left side. Then the B’s could re-insert Robbie O’Gara, a surprise scratch in favor of Joe Morrow, who earned a second game with a good showing in Thursday’s win against the New Jersey Devils but had a rough night against Montreal. O’Gara is also a left shot but adept at playing the right side.
As the season wears on, more options will present themselves. Frank Vatrano is expected back in January and he could give a boost to the top-six forwards. On the back end, Adam McQuaid (upper body) is inching closer and Kevan Miller (broken hand) is a month away. The eventual returns of McQuaid and Miller could trigger some kind of move as it would give the B’s nine defensemen.
But for now, the name of the game is trial and error.
In roster news, goalie Zane McIntyre returned to Providence of the AHL.