No one can seem to settle on a nickname for them (Ocean’s Line? 1-2-3 Line? Numbers Line?), but there’s one thing you can definitely call the Bruins’ third line right now: Hot.
That much remained true Saturday night, as the Trent Frederic-Charlie Coyle-Craig Smith trio combined to score all three Boston goals in the Bruins’ 3-2 win over the Arizona Coyotes at TD Garden.
Smith scored twice in the first period to stake the Bruins to an early 2-0 lead. His first goal came off a rebound and actually wasn’t with his usual linemates, as the Bruins were mid-line change. His second came on a transition chance that started with Smith taking a hit in the defensive zone to get the puck out and featured a nice zone entry and setup from Coyle. Smith’s first shot was blocked in the slot (by Frederic, inadvertently), but he followed it up and buried the second effort.
Smith has been the hottest member of the third line recently, as he now has seven goals in the last five games, including his hat trick in Vegas last week. It’s been a welcome turnaround from the month prior, when Smith went 12 games without a goal, and has helped take the line from one that was possessing the puck and playing good defense to one that is doing those things and also scoring.
The Bruins let the 2-0 lead slip away by the early third period, but the third line was there to save the day (and the two points) with 3:21 to go. Frederic sprung Coyle in transition with some good work along the boards in the defensive zone, and Coyle did the rest. Leading a 2-on-1 with Smith, Coyle took the puck all the way to the net and flipped a backhander over Karel Vejmelka’s glove to give Boston a 3-2 lead it wouldn’t relinquish.
Was Coyle, usually a pass-first player, thinking shot the whole way?
“No,” he admitted. “There’s not a lot of times where I think shot, but I should. It’s a tie game, so you want to make the appropriate play.”
With two points Saturday, Coyle now has 12 points (4 goals, 8 assists) in the last 14 games. Frederic picked up a pair of assists and now has six points (1 goal, 5 assists) in the last five games, in what is easily the most productive stretch of his NHL career thus far. In 145 minutes with Frederic, Coyle and Smith together at 5-on-5, the Bruins have now outscored opponents 9-1.
“I think they’re playing to the identity of how they would need to play to score on a regular basis,” Bruce Cassidy said. “Which is typically, they’re playing behind the D, winning pucks, getting pucks back, good forechecks, in sync together in the o-zone. They’ve been scoring a lot of goals like that. And then they’ve capitalized on the rush by not overthinking it. Like the goal Charlie scored, they gave him a path to the net. They took away the pass on a 2-on-1, so he took the shot. … They’re doing a lot of smart things.”
As the Bruins head toward the March 21 trade deadline, having a third line that can score and set the tone physically is a luxury they haven’t had in many previous seasons, when Don Sweeney has often had to address the third line through February or March trades.
They’re not content with what they’ve accomplished so far, though, with Smith saying after the game that they can still get better.
“We’re still a work in progress,” Smith said. “We’re all three working hard, trying to get to the right areas. I’m trying to shoot the puck more. I think that’s been a point of emphasis when we get in the offensive zone. Charlie and Trent are so good at protecting the puck. We can create stuff off of that, find lanes, and get in spots where we can get the puck to the net.”
And as for that nickname for the line, well, that’s still a work in progress, too.
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