Boston Bruins: Three questions to answer this week

TORONTO, ON - OCTOBER 19: Patrice Bergeron #37 of the Boston Bruins battles against Frederik Gauthier #33 of the Toronto Maple Leafs during an NHL game at Scotiabank Arena on October 19, 2019 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Maple Leafs defeated the Bruins 4-3 in overtime. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - OCTOBER 19: Patrice Bergeron #37 of the Boston Bruins battles against Frederik Gauthier #33 of the Toronto Maple Leafs during an NHL game at Scotiabank Arena on October 19, 2019 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Maple Leafs defeated the Bruins 4-3 in overtime. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
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TORONTO, ON – OCTOBER 19: Patrice Bergeron #37 of the Boston Bruins battles against Frederik Gauthier #33 of the Toronto Maple Leafs during an NHL game at Scotiabank Arena on October 19, 2019 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Maple Leafs defeated the Bruins 4-3 in overtime. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)

Here some important things to look for this week with the Boston Bruins.

The Boston Bruins ended the week with an overtime loss Saturday night to the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Bruins were the better team for long stretches of the game, but they were unable to secure the two points.

With the OT loss, the Bruins are now 5-1-2 through the first eight games of the season.

The Bruins look forward to some big matchups this week. They’ll try to get revenge on the Maple Leafs Tuesday night back in Boston. Then, the Bruins face St. Louis on Saturday for the first time since last season’s devastating Game 7 loss.

On Sunday, Boston heads to New York to take on the new-look Rangers for the first time this season.

The Bruins face some important questions this week that should tell us a lot more about their prospects this season.

How long will David Krejci remain out of the lineup?

The Bruins played the last two games without David Krejci in the lineup. Krejci picked up an injury last Monday in the game against Anaheim.

Krejci skated with the team last week, but he wasn’t healthy enough for game action. The Bruins hope to get him back with some tough games coming up.

Look, Krejci hasn’t been great this year; he only has one assist in five games. But, he remains a crucial piece for the Boston Bruins because he’s the key when it comes to secondary scoring.

Boston’s top line scored 15 of the team’s 22 goals so far this season. That’s almost 70%. David Pastrnak alone has nine goals.

This type of production, even with a player as talented as Pastrnak, isn’t sustainable. The top line surely can’t average almost two goals per game for an entire season!

As such, if the Bruins want to go far this year, they need consistent production from their secondary scorers. That means the Bruins need more than anything to get Krejci healthy.

Hopefully Krejci suits up for the big games against Toronto and St. Louis. But, he should only play if he’s 100% healthy. The Bruins can’t risk a season where Krejci can’t find consistency.