Boston Bruins: 3 burning questions ahead of game with Maple Leafs
The Boston Bruins aren’t slumping in the standings just yet. They still remain top of the Atlantic Division, but their form has been awful of late as they head to Toronto to face the Maple Leafs.
Gone are the wins gilded by the likes of Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak putting up three or four points a night. Instead, we’re coughing up leads and simply not looking like we’re putting enough effort in.
Now, there’s the obvious excuse that we have countless injuries to players up and down the line-up and it’s completely upset both our chemistry and as a result, our momentum. I think that’s only half of the problem though.
Simply put, the Boston Bruins are looking complacent. The easy wins of October have dried up and they haven’t moved things up a gear, instead offering the same amount of effort to far less reward.
That and David Pastrnak has cooled down somewhat. It seems when he’s not firing all cylinders, it affects the whole team.
Heading into Toronto for our 25th encounter with the Maple Leafs in the past two (and a bit) years, we have some questions that need to be answered, especially if we want to leave town with two points.
It’s not going to get any easier after Toronto, after all. The second half of this back-to-back is an Eastern Conference topping Washington Capitals outfit that seems to have re-discovered some of their championship form from a year or so back.
Anyhow, onto the questions that we need answered:
Can Boston get wins with out-of-form goalies?
In October, the Boston Bruins were in a great place with regards to goaltending. Jaroslav Halak and Tuukka Rask were both stealing wins, both sitting top ten in the league for save percentage and goals against averages and between them, they amassed 3 shut-outs. A solid start if ever you could have one.
However, in November it’s been a different story – the Boston bruins have conceded four or more goals on 4 occasions. Part of the blame for that, of course, must fall on the team’s defense and in particular, those manning the blue-line, but equally the goaltending has to be questioned.
Key to keeping the Bruins high in the standings will be their ability to grind out results even when their goalies aren’t in the best of form. If Boston can sneak a win even when Rask or Halak concedes 3 goals, we’re laughing.
If, however, we’re taking 4 goal leads like we did against the Florida Panthers and our goaltending is lacklustre enough to allow them back into it, we’re not going to be in the best of places, come the end of the season.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are a dangerous prospect for an out-of-form goalie. Whilst Tuukka Rask, over the course of his career, has enjoyed a decent record against the team that drafted him – their offensive firepower could sting him too.
Auston Matthews, John Tavares, Morgan Reilly and company all boast the talent to really get in his head and put the puck past him. They proved that last year in the play-offs and in their win back in October.
If Tuukka can hold it together though and pull out a result, I think you’ll see a shift in the Boston Bruins’ mentality. A win after four losses could be enough to turn things around; a confidence boost for the youngsters in the line-up at the very least.
Are the youngsters out of their depth?
Speaking of the youngsters; you have to wonder whether the players the Boston Bruins have promoted from Providence are feeling a little bit out of their depth at this point of the season.
The likes of Anders Bjork, Trent Frederic and Urho Vaakanainen are doing admirably since slotting into the line-up due to countless injuries decimating the second and third lines of the team.
We’re not saying remove them from the line-up or shunt them down the lines; quite the opposite, Anders Bjork hasn’t looked awful on the second-line with Charlie Coyle and David Krejci but you have to question whether he will really be able to find his game playing that high up the liens against strong opposition.
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Against the Maple Leafs, there’s every chance he’ll see at least a few shifts against the likes of Matthews or Tavares – for a player relatively freshly arrived from the AHL, that’s a pretty significant step-up in competition.
We know that Bruce Cassidy will of course attempt to shield him from such duties using the fourth line, but it’s still going to happen especially with the Leafs having last change.
Trent Frederic has also stepped up on the third line as a winger, which is a slightly less daunting move up. While he will likely take the odd draw, he’s not being expected to step into the NHL as a center immediately.
The positional shift is obviously a bit of a change for him, but in all reality, it simply means getting onto the boards and involved in the puck battles first, rather than backing them up. We shall see how he goes against (you’d predict) Alex Kerfoot and Ilya Mikheyev.
Finally, there’s Urho Vaakanainen; he’s a player we have seen as a future NHL blue-liner for a while and is being eased into the line-up on the third pairing. Given the minutes that Zdeno Chara and Charlie McAvoy consume, he’s getting a gentle feel for the big league.
Out of his depth; maybe, at times. But his education is probably the most balanced of those pushed into action for the Boston Bruins, and indeed can be shared with Steven Kampfer if it’s felt he needs to watch from the press-box for a game.
Can we get production from more than just Marchand and Pastrnak?
The final question is possibly the biggest one; can we find goal scoring and indeed, point scoring in general from players not named Brad Marchand or David Pastrnak?
The good news for Boston Bruins fans is that both players seem to enjoy match-ups with the Toronto Maple Leafs so secondary scoring could prove a moot point.
Pastrnak has 4 points across the 2 matches so far this season, to go with 6 points in the 7 play-off games last year while Marchand has 3 points in this year’s 2 games, along with 9 points from 7 in the play-offs. Both guys definitely enjoy matching up with the Maple Leafs’ defense.
However, you’d realistically be wanting to see the odd goal from David Krejci, Charlie Coyle or Anders Bjork on the second line. Bjork did net one against Florida, while Krejci had a couple of assists and Coyle grabbed a helper too, but it needs to be consistent production, not just the odd one here and there.
This may come as they gel more, given this line has only been utilised in earnest across one or two games now, but when Zdeno Chara is tallying points from the blue-line as a 43 year-old, you have to be a little concerned (as well as impressed).
If Cassidy can get his team out on the ice with the right match-ups, I have no doubt that the second, third and fourth lines have the ability to grab goals. It’s just going to come down to that battle of wits between him and Mike Babcock on the opposing bench.
Of course, if Marchand and Pastrnak take the game by the scruff of it’s neck and dominate, then it doesn’t matter if we have secondary scoring or not. It’s not a tactic I’d be 100% reliant on though; it only takes a bad penalty call to send one of them to the box and thus, there’s the advantage lost.
Next. Why Tuukka Rask will bounce back versus Maple Leafs. dark
There’s certainly questions to answer tonight; whether we can get it going against the Maple Leafs or not being the biggest one of all. Here’s hoping we can.