A few things B’s need to clean up
Fine-tuning needed down the stretch
Get Brad Marchand right again Figure out the power-play
The Bruins may not have gotten everything back in their last two games, but they reclaimed the most import thing in wins over Pittsburgh and St. Louis – their identity.
In the two games against the the Penguins’ good offense and the Blues’ stellar attack, the B’s allowed 24 and 22 shots, respectively, and allowed a total of three goals. That would have been good against
The B’s top line left wing has had dips before but they were usually a result of the puck just not bouncing his way. But in his current eight-game goal-less streak, Marchand’s usual larger-than-life presence on every shift has been dissipating. In the 3-2 overtime win in St. Louis, Marchand was held without a shot on net for the first time all season. He doesn’t seem to have the same confidence with the puck.
Perhaps when the first puck goes in for him, the floodgates will open. That’s how it usually happens. But since his six-game suspension in February, Marchand has now had two extended scoring slumps. After scoring two goals against San Jose in his second game back from the suspension, he also went eight games without a goal. Could that suspension – and the possibility of a much longer banishment if he crosses the line again – be weighing on him? Sure. It may be no coincidence that the first game of this current eight-game skid was the one in Columbus in which he blasted Blue Jackets’ Andrew Peeke. It was a heavy but clean check. If it had been delivered by another player, no one would have said a thing but, because it was Marchand, tongues were wagging.
Could he also be feeling the effects of the every-other-night schedule at this stage? Absolutely. He just about carried the team offensively in the first half of the season when Taylor Hall and David Pastrnak were not producing.
But for the B’s to have a chance of doing anything in the post-season, Marchand has to return being the shift-in-shift-out threat he has been for over a decade.
Pastrnak, of course, should help whenever he comes back. But the truth of the matter is that the power play had been struggling with or without Pastrnak in the lineup. They are currently 0-for-27 in their last eight games, almost of all of which was accrued with Pastrnak out of the lineup. But going back 18 games, the B’s are clicking at a concerning rate of 6-for-57 for a success rate of 9.5%. Their 5-on-5 scoring has improved enough to bring them up to 15th in the league, but it’s not so potent that they can continually punt away the opportunities that they’re getting.
While the dropping of Pastrnak to the second line has saved the B’s season, you have to wonder if the less time he, Marchand and Patrice Bergeron play together 5-on-5 is affecting the powerplay chemistry. If that’s the case, then they’ll just have to figure it out because at this point there’s no going back to the way the top six was once configured. anyone, never mind the Pens and the Blues. But there are still some things they have to accomplish in their final half-dozen games, starting Thursday in Pittsburgh. Here’s four of them. And as a testament to how much things have changed in the past five weeks, none of them involve Jake DeBrusk.
Get the injured players some work
This requires some finger-crossing, for the players are ready when they’re ready. Cassidy was hopeful that both Pastrnak and Hampus Lindholm, who went out of the lineup on successive nights early in the month, will be ready to play by next week. On Wednesday, he sounded a little less hopeful that they could play at some point in this weekend’s backto-back against the Rangers and in Montreal. Both have been skating but have not yet been able to join the team for even non-contact participation. If they’re not on the ice with the team on Friday – if in fact the B’s do practice — that would not be a great sign.
If the players had gotten nicked up more recently, then it might be wise to shut them down until the playoffs. But they’ve been out for too long now and they’re timing has surely been affected, especially Pastrnak and his one-timer. And while Lindholm looked like the perfect complement to Charlie McAvoy, he hasn’t had a ton of games in a Bruin uniform and there are still nuances to the system that he can pick up.
The good news to come out of Coach Bruce Cassidy’s press briefing on Wednesday is that Linus Ullmark, barring any setbacks, is trending toward weekend action. He’d been playing his best hockey of the season when he took a puck off the noggin in the loss to Ottawa last Thursday. It’s anyone’s guess as to whether he can pick right back up where he left off. Not only does he need the work, but Jeremy Swayman might be ready for a game off by the weekend.
Determine best six-pack of defensemen for Game 1
When healthy, the top-four are pretty much set. Lindholm will play with McAvoy and Matt Grzelcyk will play with Brandon Carlo. And it appears that the third pairing is coming into clearer view, if only by default. Derek Forbort and Connor Clifton appear to be the pairing that fits the best, all things considered. Forbort (who will most likely get the nod because of his penalty killing work) with Mike Reilly playing his off-side has not been very good. Forbort does not match well with likeminded stay-at-home defenseman Josh Brown. That would leave Mike Reilly and Josh Brown on the outside looking in to start. While the deadline acquisition Brown is more of a victim of circumstance, Reilly — who signed a three-year, $9 million extension last summer — has not helped his cause with a rash of stick fouls (six in the last six games). But if the Bruins are to get to where they want to go, both Reilly and Brown will be needed at some point, especially with the way Grzelcyk has battled injuries this season.