In Tuesday night’s 3-2 overtime victory against the Nashville Predators, Hampus Lindholm continued the recent trend of Bruins defensemen contributing goals with his tally at 13:16 in the first period. In their 13 games played this January, the Bruins' backend has scored a total of eight goals. This is a much needed turn in production compared to early in the season when the defense combined for just six goals in the first 28 games.
While the offense from the Bruins’ blue-liners is much needed, there has been concerning play in the third period over the past two games. The Bruins’ defense will need to find balance between scoring, structure, and protecting the lead to continue their success.
Recent problems protecting the lead
The Bruins are 10-2-1 so far in January, and heading into Monday night’s game against the New York Rangers, they were a near-perfect 24-0-1 on the season when leading after two periods. Prior to the third period of the Rangers game, the B’s had a 3-2 lead, which they held on to for most of the third until Rangers’ defenseman, Will Borgen, scored with just over six minutes left in the period. The Bruins did not respond before the end of regulation and in the final minutes of overtime, the Rangers’ Matthew Robertson powered his way down the ice and got one through Joonas Korpisalo to beat the Bruins, 4-3.
This OT loss dropped the Bruins’ ‘when leading after two’ record to 24-0-2. Not overly concerning, still no regulation losses. The problem is, it almost happened again the very next night. Boston was up on Nashville 2-1 heading into the third period, then the Predators’ Nick Blankenurg tied it at two on the 4-on-4, with some help from Steven Stamkos, who pushed Mason Lohrei in front of Jeremy Swayman for an extra screen. The Bruins 4-on-4 unit looked like it was lacking awareness in that moment, and the B’s weren’t able to answer with their own goal before the overtime period. Luckily David Pastrnak closed out OT quick with a beautiful tip from Charlie McAvoy, in just 15 seconds to help the Bruins win 3-2. Their record ‘when leading after two’ improved to 25-0-2.
The offensive boom from the defense over the past 13 games, specifically from McAvoy (3 goals, 12 assists) and Lohrei (4 goals, 4 assists), has overall been beneficial for the Bruins. They are getting more shots on goal, and driving creative plays, and McAvoy is playing some of the best hockey of his career. In adding offense to their repertoire, the Bruins D also needs to make sure not to abandon their post and risk handicapping their structure, as well as get back to sensible and strong penalty kills, which have slipped away since earlier in the season.