Boston Bruins: 3 Reasons Why the B’s Need to Rebuild Their 4th Line
Jan 4, 2015; Raleigh, NC, USA; Boston Bruins forward Craig Cunningham (61) skates against the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena. The Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Boston Bruins 2-1 in the shoot out. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports
Lack of Skill
There’s no denying that the B’s 4th line is full of passion and love of the game, but that doesn’t make up for the lack of skill. Sure, Paille is one of the fastest forwards on the team, but speed is only good when you have an accurate shot, are aware of what’s happening on the ice and don’t turnover the puck. Soupy is an ace at faceoffs, winning 54.1% – he is also great on the penalty kill. For some teams, this may be enough for a 4th line player who doesn’t see much ice time, but when you are running four lines like Claude Julien likes his team to do there needs to be high-quality skills from all forwards.
One area where the 4th liners excel at is getting penalties, both good penalties and bad penalties. As we touched base on previously, Campbell does not shy away from dropping the gloves to protect his teammates or get the crowd into the game. But, if you’re willing to drop the gloves you have to show up to the fight. Jordan Caron – seven penalty minutes in six games – is more than willing to start a fight, but doesn’t give it his all which winds up being a wasted penalty. Thankfully, Caron is rarely in the lineup. One can only hope he’ll be on his way out soon.
One of the 4th liners does show some potential and has increased his skills over the course of the season. Craig Cunningham has notched two goals and one assist in his 25 games. He is also winning 51.1% of the faceoffs he takes. He was thrown into the position after Simon Gagne had to take a leave of absence and Seth Griffith went into a slump. He’s is definitely not the answer to all of the issues, but he is taking the line in the right direction.
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