The Boston Bruins made it to the Stanley Cup Playoffs in part because of the play of Jeremy Swayman and another 100-point season from David Pastrnak. The defense was going to be a strength of the team, but they didn't really live up to that for various reasons, which should've been the death knell for the Bruins' postseason hopes. However, the second line of Casey Mittelstadt, Pavel Zacha, and Viktor Arvidsson was one of the most underrated trios in the league.
The line didn't have the greatest underlying numbers, with a Corsi and Goals Expected percentage under 50%. However, they persevered through the advanced numbers and scored 42 goals as a line compared to 22 against. It was one of the best goal differentials in the league, sitting behind some of the league's best lines at five-on-five, according to nhl.hockey-statistics.com.
LW | C | RW | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Juraj Slafkovsky | Nick Suzuki | Cole Caufield | 33 | 14 |
Artturi Lehkonen | Nathan MacKinnon | Martin Necas | 44 | 20 |
Patrick Kane | Andrew Copp | Alex Debrincat | 30 | 14 |
Casey Mittelstadt | Pavel Zacha | Viktor Arvidsson | 41 | 22 |
Bruins fans worried about whether the line could hold up in the postseason. Zacha has been known to struggle in the matchup game as one of the Bruins' top two centers in the playoffs, and Mittelstadt's lack of a physical game offered the possibility that he'd struggle in a postseason setting. Arvidsson is a notable playoff performer, but he wouldn't be able to drive the line by himself.
The worst-case scenario happened for the Bruins, as Arvidsson suffered an injury in Game 4, which knocked him out for the series' final two games. The veteran's loss was massive for the Bruins, but unfortunately, it wasn't because the second line was dominating at five-on-five as they had in the regular season.
To be fair to the trio, the second line had the best advanced numbers of any of the four lines that started the series for the Bruins. They had a Corsi of 46.6% and a PDO of 94. Both numbers leave them near the bottom of the league in the postseason, and were a microcosm of the worries that Bruins fans had entering the playoffs.
The second line played well above expectations during the regular season. They needed to continue it over a two-month stretch with the pressure ratcheted up, and they weren't able to do it. There were plenty of red flags about potential regression for Boston, and the second line proved those fears. They weren't the only reason the Bruins lost, but they do share some of the blame.
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