The Boston Bruins are currently operating as a one line scoring machine. The team has got to find more offense and the rest of the team has to step up.
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The Boston Bruins are extremely fortunate to have Brad Marchand. The Bruins forward has been one of the hottest players in the NHL, putting up 13 goals in the last 15 games. The problem is (other than not having a reliable backup goaltender….or a defensive core that may either be an asset or a dumpster fire on any given night) that the B’s are relying way too much on their top line for goal production right now.
Other Bruins lines have been inconsistent. There have been decent games among the other three lines, but recently they’ve been invisible. The bottom two lines have put up only three goals in the last month. The Bruins top line of Marchand, David Pastrnak, and Patrice Bergeron have put up 55 of the B’s 135 goals this season (40.7%). They’re three of the top four Bruins scorers, and the only consistently solid line on the ice.
As for the other members of the Bruins, they know that some of them have been passengers on the train running amuck on Causeway Street.
“We need to find more scoring. We can’t rely on one line every night,” said Bruins forward and alternate captain David Krejci after the B’s 5-3 loss to the Capitals on Wednesday (according to CSNNE.com). “They win us some games, but it’s not enough. Other guys have to step up. If we don’t do that then we’re going to be in trouble. We have to start doing it because that’s the only way we’re going to be winning hockey games.
“I think we maybe gave [the Capitals] too much respect. We’re a team. We’re a five man unit on the ice so it’s not just the D’s and the forwards. We all play together and we have to communicate, we all have to stay on the same page and we have to create more scoring chances. We didn’t do that enough, and that’s why we were behind.”
So, what can Claude Julien do? He broke up Marchand and Bergeron briefly earlier in the season. It didn’t work. He’s got to keep the best line together. Claude’s answer was simple: The team needs to improve as a whole.
“It’s pretty obvious that some guys have to step up and give us some offense here,” said Julien of the Bruins’ predicament. “Our power play is good with scoring goals, but five-on-five we have to be better. You can’t just rely on line to score goals for you every night, so some guys have to step up in that department and start giving us a little bit more five-on-five. Those are guys that are very capable of doing it as well.”
Hopefully the Krejci line can step up and provide strong support. Hopefully Ryan Spooner, and the five other Bruins who didn’t put up a goal in January can find their game while there is still time. If the B’s fail to make the playoffs this year, next year’s team will likely be unrecognizable.
