Boston Bruins: Top line must win matchup against Penguins defense
By jc
The Bruins have the top line in hockey, and the Penguins have one of the best defense pairings. They’ll go head to head Monday night.
The Boston Bruins start the week with a Monday night matchup with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Pittsburgh comes to town with 17 points this season, good enough for fourth place in the Metropolitan Division.
When you think of the Penguins, their elite forwards are the first things to come to mind. Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin continue to be two of the more dangerous scorers in the league.
This season, however, the defense seems to lead the way. The Penguins are barely a top-10 offense in terms of goals scored, but they are fourth in goals allowed. Through 14 games, Pittsburgh only has 33 goals against.
Pittsburgh goalie Matt Murray is in the midst of an impressive stretch of play. He currently has a .924 SV% and a 2.17 GAA. He also has seven wins in 11 starts.
That said, the play of the Penguins top defense pairing is the biggest reason why the team is near the top of the league in fewest goals allowed. Brian Dumoulin and Kris Letang both look great to start the season.
Dumoulin, who played at Boston College, is in the middle of one of the best runs of his career. He’s a capable defensive-minded defenseman who uses his size and skating to deal with high-end forwards. Currently, he has a 60.2 CF%, and he chipped in with four points in 10 games.
Letang plays on the right side with Dumoulin, and he provides more offense. He is the third-highest scorer on Pittsburgh with four goals and seven assists. Letang has a 57.8 CF% this season.
What’s most noteworthy about Dumoulin and Letang is that they’re on the ice pretty much all night. Dumoulin averages 21:22 in time on ice; Letang averages a whopping 25:31. Only five players average more ice time than Letang.
So, expect the Bruins top line of Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, and David Pastrnak to see a lot of Dumoulin and Letang on Monday night.
We’re all aware that Bergeron, Marchand, and Pastrnak currently look unstoppable right now. Pastrnak leads the NHL with 27 points, one more than the second-place Leon Draisaitl. Draisaitl, by the way, played two more games than Pastrnak.
The Bruins top trio has yet to meet its match this season, but Dumoulin and Letang might be the toughest challenge yet. Dumoulin can limit space out there for the forwards, and Letang can help drive possession to keep the Bruins out of the offensive zone.
In the Penguins last game, they played against Draisaitl and Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers. Draisaitl and McDavid are pretty much the only two teammates in the league who can replicate what Marchand and Pastrnak can bring.
Draisaitl and McDavid only combined for one point against Pittsburgh. And that point was an overtime goal for Draistail. This shows that Dumoulin, Letang, and the rest of the Pittsburgh defense can handle elite forwards.
The Bruins, to win Monday night against Pittsburgh, need their top forwards to perform better than Edmonton’s. Bergeron, Marchand, and Pastrnak need to get the best of Dumoulin and Letang. If not, the Bruins could be in store for only their second regulation loss…especially because Pittsburgh has a more-than-capable offense.
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Fortunately, the Bruins top line hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down this season. Marchand and Pastrnak in particular continue to put up points night after night. Don’t be surprised if this holds true against Pittsburgh.