Boston Bruins Forward Woes Masked By Defensive Woes
Boston Bruins Forward Woes Masked By Defensive Woes After Horrible Start to 2016-17 Season
When looking at the 2016-17 Boston Bruins, it’s hard to find many bright spots. The line of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, and David Pastrnak has been great, but the team’s offense has been almost non-existent outside of that trio – with the exception of David Backes who centered Marchand and Pastrnak to start the year.
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In the team’s seven games this season, the Bruins have only scored 17 goals. That places them in 24th place in the league in goals-for; that isn’t very good. To make matters worse, the Bruins have allowed 23 goals-against in that same seven-game stretch.
While the team’s defense has been bad, and goaltending injuries and poor play haven’t helped, the team’s offense is doing nothing to help the team either. As mentioned, there aren’t many bright spots that can be found when looking at the 2016-17 Boston Bruins so far.
David Krejci, for one, needs to step up. In seven games this season, the veteran center has only produced three points – all assists. Additionally, his line has looked dreadful all season, regardless of who’s played on it.
It’s Only Seven Games in
It’s easy to look at the ugly start to the Bruins season and find reasons to panic. While the concerns of fans and media look legitimate thus far, there’s still no denying that seven games into a season is way too early to judge a team.
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The Washington Capitals – the reigning President’s Trophy winners – have only scored 14 goals so far through six games this season. That gives them a 2.33 Goals-For/Games-Played which is right on par with the Bruins 2.43 GF/GP. Yes, they’ve also only allowed 13 goals this season, giving them a 2.17 Goals-Against/Games-Played stat while the Bruins are sitting on a 3.29 GA/GP, so the situations aren’t entirely comparable, but the point remains that the Capitals have had their own struggles as well.
The Capitals aren’t expected to finish outside of a playoff spot this season despite starting the season with a 3-2-1 record.
With that in mind, however, there’s still no denying that the Bruins team has just looked plain bad this year. Whether it be on the power play, the penalty kill, or five-on-five in the offensive, defensive, or neutral zone, nothing’s clicked. Nothing seems to be working for the Bruins, and injuries to Tuukka Rask and Anton Khudobin haven’t helped either.
Is There a Silver Lining?
Nolan Patrick is looking pretty good in the WHL right now.
All joking aside, it’s not easy to find a silver lining for the Bruins so far, but if there are any, it’s been the young players in the lineup. With the exception of Rob O’Gara who is currently in Providence, Claude Julien has been giving some of his young up-and-comers a chance in the lineup. Austin Czarnik – recently recalled due to the Backes injury, – Tim Schaller, and Danton Heinen have all seen time with the team this year. Leading the way, however, are defensemen Brandon Carlo and Colin Miller. Both have played in all seven games to start the season so far.
Both Carlo and Miller have been a mixed bag to start the year, with ups and downs following them along the way. Both have spent time flanking Zdeno Chara on the Bruins top-pairing, but Carlo seems to have that role locked up for the time-being. While his time spent with the captain hasn’t been perfect, it’s been encouraging.
It’s tough to make the jump from junior to the NHL. Carlo, however, has pretty much done just that. While he’s been caught making mistakes, he’s also noticeable learned from them – and quickly. Both Carlo and Chara hold plus-5 ratings so far this year. The rest of the Bruins defenders? They collectively hold a minus-17. Colin Miller happens to hold the team’s worst mark with a minus-five rating.
Colin Miller Getting His Opportunities
Miller hasn’t yet shown that he’s a legitimate top-four player in the NHL. While he’s had bright spots – including his speed and booming shot – there have been many drawbacks to his game that have been glaring at times. Despite all of this, Julien is letting Miller play. There’s nothing more demoralizing for a player than to be sat after a bad shift, or relegated to the press-box or minors after a bad game. Last season, Miller faced those dilemmas more often than not. This season, however, Julien is allowing Miller to get his feet wet and hopefully learn from his mistakes.
While an injury to Kevan Miller is forcing Julien’s had slightly, sometimes that’s what it takes in professional sports. Without Drew Bledsoe being knocked out of the Patriots lineup with an injury, Tom Brady never would have gotten his shot. Injuries are never a good thing – finding the silver lining from them, however, certainly is.
Will the Team Bounce Back?
While seven games into a season is too early to judge, it’s also hard to argue with the results so far. The team doesn’t appear to be going anywhere, anytime soon, but stranger things have happened in the NHL. The team will need to continue to learn from their mistakes, and hopefully better themselves as the season progresses.
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A trade to shake things up could be on the horizon – how far away that trade may be, however, is left to be determined. The team doesn’t appear to be panicking just yet, and with 75 games remaining in the season, it’s time to let them figure things out before jumping off the ship and declaring the season a lost one.