Sep 23, 2013; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Bruins right wing Jarome Iginla (12) handles the puck during the third period against the Washington Capitals at TD Banknorth Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports
2 of Boston’s 3 goals in the Thursday night win over Tampa came from the Top 6 lines, with a goal from Milan Lucic and a beautiful curl and drag goal from Patrice Bergeron. The Bruins Top 6 looked great in that game but out of all these players, who will be the ones to lead the team by the end of the season? I will be highlighting 3 players who I think will finish in the Top 3 in team scoring by the end of the 2013-14 season.
Jarome Iginla
Jarome Iginla (with the exception of last year’s shortened season) has not dropped below a 60 point season since 1999-2000. He is a consistent scoring threat and has two 50 goal seasons under his belt during that time (2001-02, 2007-08). He didn’t score in the opening night debut but his physicality was certainly felt with his fight against Radko Gudas. Iginla is only 36, and still has a lot of skill in his game (case in point his one timer against Montreal in the preseason). Despite having a great pre-season, it doesn’t seem like he’s fully adjusted to the play of Lucic and Krejci, but that can change. Iginla is my definite lock for being the leading scorer by the end of the year. I don’t wanna put my foot in my mouth with EXACT numbers for goals and points, but considering his long track record he should definitely be a contender for the spot.
Milan Lucic
Lucic had an amazing playoffs last year and was starting to rebound after a sluggish start of last season. He looked amazing in his first game of this regular season scoring an amazing snap shot from the slot on Andres Lindback. Lucic was the one who rallied his team in Game 7 against the Leafs and did have a tremendous effort in Game 1 against the Hawks. Lucic certainly is looking to have a rebounded regular season (maybe matching his 30 goal 2010-11 campaign). He shouldn’t be left aside for the point leader but I think he will be benefiting Iginla more than Iginla will be benefiting Lucic’s game, but that’s not a bad thing at all.
Patrice Bergeron
Mr. Game 7. This guy showed off some serious flair on his goal in the Tampa game and has been looking better than ever. It’s obvious the Stanley Cup loss has does nothing but light a serious fire under everyone’s asses and Bergeron is one of them. Injury striken through out the entire Stanley Cup finals, it didn’t stop him from scoring but it was one of the big elephants in the room when it came to the loss in Game 6. Had had not be as badly injured as he was (same with Wade Redden) I think we’d have been raising a banner on Thursday night. But, Bergeron is back and healthy and had a tremendous game with his new line mate Loui Eriksson and Brad Marchand. These two will certainly have tremendous seasons but I think in the end it will be Bergeron who was elevated the most and I think it’s what he wants the most considering he was so close to glory before it all came crashing down.
There are plenty of other guys on this team who could sneak their way into the Top 3 over the course of the year including Krejci, Marchand, and Eriksson. These 3 I chose show constant consistency or have been waiting for a chance to make a huge rebound in their play. With the new lines and new motivation for this year it wouldn’t be surprising at all to see someone tie for first or tie for second in scoring and for the point totals to be way way way up from where they’ve been since 2011. This team is poised for something great this year, and even though it was a slow game against the Lightning, there is something wicked coming this way from these two lines.