The Bruins obviously miss Brad Marchand. Duh. His absence while he serves his six-game suspension has certainly been a factor in Boston’s recent offensive struggles.
But not having Marchand on the ice doesn’t singlehandedly explain the Bruins being unable to score. They should still have enough to score more than one goal per game, which is what they’ve averaged in the four games without Marchand.
They need more from other forwards, they need their defense to help out more, and they need to remember how to put together a 60-minute effort, or even a 40-minute one.
On the latter point, Thursday night’s 4-1 loss the Islanders was the latest game in which the Bruins got off to a good start, only to then fall apart as the game went on.
The Bruins were clearly the better team in the first period, as they outshot the Islanders 13-6 and took a 1-0 lead into the intermission on a Taylor Hall goal. They should have been able to keep that going against a non-playoff team that had lost three in a row going in.
Instead they let the Islanders take over and got outscored 4-0 the rest of the way. That kind of game script has become a concerning trend since the All-Star break. While the Bruins have outscored opponents 6-1 in the first period over their last five games, they have been outscored by a preposterous 14-0 margin in second and third periods. That’s right: They have not scored a single goal after the first period in two weeks.
“What happens a lot if the home team doesn’t have a good first period, usually they’ll push in the second. We’ve addressed that. It happens to us a lot,” Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said after the game. “New York [Rangers] the other night. We just have to be ready for it and execute. You have to be able to execute at a level to sort of stem the pushes they have. We seem to spend the first five, six minutes in our own end because we couldn’t execute the breakout or support the puck or be strong on it. That gives them some juice.”
There are players up and down the lineup who haven’t been good enough, but one forward they definitely need more from right now is David Pastrnak.
It wasn’t long ago that Pastrnak was scoring 16 goals in 16 games, but he’s now gone four straight games without a point and has looked more like the player who got off to a slow start this season than the one who dominated everyone in his path in January and the first week of February. Having his slump coincide with Marchand’s suspension has doomed the Bruins’ offense.
On Thursday, Pastrnak looked like a player who was forcing it when he got the puck. He committed several turnovers while trying to take on defenders 1-on-1. While you don’t want to discourage him from using his skill and creativity, the dekes and dangles haven’t been working recently. A weak defensive effort on a neutral-zone flyby that helped lead to the Islanders’ third goal only added to the tough night.
A better approach for the time being might be the one his linemate, Taylor Hall, took Thursday. Hall had also been slumping recently, but looked much better against the Islanders with a more direct, shoot-first mentality. He scored by throwing a puck on goal from a low angle and created a couple rebound chances off shots, too. Hall finished with a game-high seven shots on goal and 11 shots attempts.
“You have to keep shooting, you have to keep attacking, and hope that the floodgates open for us,” Hall said. “It’s been tough sledding scoring, obviously. That doesn’t mean you shoot less. It means you shoot more and try to create second chances.”
The Bruins need more from forwards further down in the lineup, too, especially the three who were on the de facto third line Thursday night. Jake DeBrusk made two mistakes on the Islanders’ second goal, first turning the puck over at the offensive blue line and then missing a block attempt on the point shot from goal-scorer Noah Dobson. DeBrusk has zero points in the last six games and two goals in the last 21.
His linemates, Erik Haula and Nick Foligno, were both a minus-2 on the night and neither had a shot on goal. Foligno is still stuck on one goal for the season and doesn’t show many signs of being able to do more offensively. Haula has zero points in the last four and took a bad tripping penalty that set up the Islanders’ first goal of the game.
The Bruins’ play in their own zone hasn’t helped the offense either. After not spending much time in the D-zone in the first period, they got pinned in too often the rest of the game in large part because they couldn’t execute clean breakouts. A missed pass from Derek Forbort to Foligno up the boards helped lead to New York’s second goal. It’s the kind of mistake that’s been happening too often lately, and the kind that prevents the Bruins from getting transition opportunities.
In addition to better breakouts, Cassidy also wants to see his defensemen be more involved offensively, specifically by getting shots through from the point.
“Look at their couple goals,” Cassidy said. “They get one on net from the point, a heavy shot, a rebound. Even the one that went through at the end, it’s off the post. We do need secondary offense from the back end. … The pucks have to arrive [to the front of the net]. Tonight I think there were some shooting opportunities we didn’t take and try to get those second-chance goals against a good goaltender.”
Marchand will help in all facets when he returns. He’s obviously a special offensive talent. He also rarely takes shifts or periods off, and he’s great at helping out in his own zone.
But he won’t singlehandedly fix everything, and the Bruins shouldn’t just be waiting around thinking he will.
Sunday Skate featuring Matt Kalman, Andrew Raycroft and Scott McLaughlin returns this Sunday. Tune in starting at 11 a.m.
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