BOSTON’S TOP LINE FAR FROM ITS BEST

Marchand, Bergeron, Pastrnak have been doing most of their damage on power play

The problem with criticizing the top line of the Boston Bruins is it’s a take that doesn’t age particularly well.

One second you’re writing about how Ryan O’Reilly and the St. Louis Blues have shut down Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak. And just as you finish typing that last period, the trio goes out and proves you wrong.

It happened in a first-round series against Toronto, when Bergeron, Marchand and Pastrnak woke up and combined for three goals and six points in a 6-4 win in Game 3. And again in a second-round series against Columbus, where, after combining for one goal in the first three games, they exploded for three goals and five points in a 4-1 win in Game 4. And again in the Eastern Conference final, when they scored all four goals in a 4-0 series-clinching win against Carolina.

So the fact Bergeron, Marchand and Pastrnak have been MIA in the first two games of the Stanley Cup final is a bit concerning. But, really, the team that should be most concerned is the Blues.

While they may have kept the best line in hockey quiet, you just know it’s a matter of time before they make some noise. After all, you don’t combine for 260 points in the regular season by accident.

“Yeah, we need to be better,” Marchand said after a 3-2 overtime loss in Game 2. “Personally, I wasn’t good the last two games, so we can’t be playing like that. We’re not worried about it. We’ll get back to work and worry about the next one.”

Well, they better do it soon. Because as much as Boston has relied on depth scoring and unlikely contributions from its fourth line, the fact is Sean Kuraly, Noel Acciari and Joakim Nordstrom aren’t leading the Bruins to a Stanley Cup championship.

You need your stars at this time of year. Your highest-paid players need to be your best players. The reason Pittsburgh won back-toback Cups was because Sidney Crosby was the best player on the ice. The same goes for the Washington Capitals, who finally received a Conn Smythe Trophy performance from Alex Ovechkin.

So far, Bergeron and Co. haven’t done enough of that.

They’ve been good in the playoffs. They’ve even been great at times. But they haven’t been consistent.

“Marsh, Pasta, Bergy and (David) Krejci are all at the top in our scoring, so they’ve done it in the playoffs,” said Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy. “Maybe not in these two games — short sample size — so that’s something we’re looking for. I think any team would tell you when your best players perform you have a better chance to win. We’re not different. So I suspect they’ll be better up in St. Louis offensively and we’ll go from there.”

Boston’s top line has combined for 23 goals and 48 points in this year’s playoffs. Heading into Game 3, Marchand, with 19 points in 19 games, was one point behind San Jose’s Logan Couture for the playoff lead. He and Bergeron each have eight goals, while Pastrnak has seven. That’s nothing to complain about, even if it’s low by their standards (a year ago, they had combined for 16 goals and 53 points in 12 games).

But half of their points have come on the power play.

At even strength, the Bruins’ top line has scored only 13 goals. Of those, four have been empty-netters. The fourth line has actually been more productive in 5-on-5 situations, something Cassidy acknowledged when he matched Kuraly’s line against the Blues’ top line in Game 1, immediately after St. Louis took a 2-0 lead with Boston’s big guns on the ice.

In Game 2, the Bruins’ top line was back getting prime-time minutes. And they got eaten up. Bergeron went 5-for-13 in the faceoff circle, while Marchand committed four giveaways. As a line, they were minus-3.

Give St. Louis some credit. The Blues, who play dump-and-chase hockey and hound the puck on the defensive side, aren’t giving the Bruins much space out there and it’s clearly frustrating their skilled players.

“I think, as a group, when we track hard, it helps our D with their gaps and if we can keep them to the outside,” said Blues centre Ryan O’Reilly, a Selke Trophy finalist who is currently winning the faceoff war against Bergeron. “Obviously, they’re a dynamic line. They’ve got some great firepower and we’re just trying to make it as difficult as we can on these guys. Not give them any momentum … we’ve got a lot of work left. We’ll have to be ready for their adjustments.”

Yes, adjustments. You can expect plenty of those for Game 3. Cassidy isn’t a stubborn coach. He wasn’t afraid to replace Pastrnak with Danton Heinen against the Leafs and is always tinkering with matchups and forechecking strategies to give his team an edge.

But in the end, it’s up to Bergeron, Marchand and Pastrnak to work through this funk. History suggests they’ll do it. mtraikos@postmedia.com twitter.com/Michael_Traikos