Which one’s the top line? And does it even matter?
Not when they’re rolling like this, it doesn’t. When the Bruins needed those special moments of offensive breakthrough Saturday night in a game that required patience and a grind-it-out approach, their top two lines were both up to the challenge, and they came away with a 5-2 win (featuring two empty-netters) over the Blue Jackets as a result.
The Bruins dominated most of the first period, but struggled to break through thanks to some great goaltending from Elvis Merzlikins. They finally did with 4:51 left in the period at the end of a strong shift from the Taylor Hall-Erik Haula-David Pastrnak line and Hampus Lindholm-Charlie McAvoy pairing.
Lindholm pinched and set up McAvoy for a good chance, but Merzlikins robbed his initial bid. That’s when the three forwards went to work, with Pastrnak and Hall digging to free up a rebound that eventually found its way to Haula for the goal.
The Blue Jackets scored against the run of play with 28 seconds left in the first, and then took the lead 42 seconds into the second. The Bruins struggled to regain momentum for most of the middle period, until the Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Jake DeBrusk line answered the bell with 1:47 to go.
Along with the Lindholm-McAvoy pair (again), that line took control for a dominant offensive-zone shift. DeBrusk forced a turnover on an attempted zone exit, McAvoy had a key keep-in, and then Marchand set up Bergeron for a chance that trickled behind Merzlikins but didn’t go in. McAvoy hunted down the loose puck and then the Bruins went tic-tac-toe from DeBrusk to Bergeron to Marchand for the goal.
The Bruins went back to dominating in the third period, but again struggled to find a winner against Merzlikins, until Haula stepped up again. In the dying seconds of a power play with under four minutes to go, Haula set up in front and tipped home a slap pass from Brandon Carlo to give the Bruins the lead. Marchand then set up DeBrusk for one empty-netter, and Bergeron set up Charlie Coyle for the other.
“We got back to playing the way we’re supposed,” Cassidy said of the third period. “Patient, responsible hockey. Attack when the situation dictates, play behind their D, create turnovers on the forecheck. … We needed some second and third effort around the net to get it by [Merzlikins]. Those are the things we talked about between periods, and I thought we took it to heart.”
When it was all said and done, the Bruins had outshot Columbus 20-4 when one of their top two lines was on the ice. Haula had his second multi-goal game of the season and fourth multi-point game in the last six games, bringing him up to 10 points (4 goals, 6 assists) in the last six games.
Marchand had a goal and two assists, bringing him up to eight goals and five assists in the last eight games. DeBrusk had a second straight multi-point game and now has six points (4 goals, 2 assists) in the last four games. Bergeron’s two assists took him to seven points in four games since returning from an arm infection. Hall extended his point streak to five games.
The only member of the top six who didn’t have a point Saturday, oddly enough, was Pastrnak. But he had a game-high seven shots on goal and still has 10 points in his last five games despite the goose egg.
Bruce Cassidy was particularly impressed with Marchand, who he believes has not been getting some obvious penalty calls in his favor recently, but has found a way to fight through it and respond with offense rather than retaliatory penalties.
“I thought today he certainly drew a penalty going to the net in the second period. He got frustrated -- the guy was on his back,” Cassidy said. “Those are some of the calls he’s not getting. He just has to find a way to get to the bench and reset. That’s just the way it is for him. I thought he did a great job of that tonight. He was physical. He took whatever emotions he had coming to the bench, and he took it out in the right manner. Went and finished a check clean and hard. … He didn’t get upset with the officials and just played through it. That’s the challenge in front of him.”
That embodied the Bruins as a whole Saturday night. Whether it was not getting calls or running into a hot goalie, there was plenty of opportunity to get frustrated. But they ground it out and ultimately did what they needed to do to break through and get the win.
And whereas in past seasons the Bruins may have only had one line capable of breaking through in a game like this, they now have at least two, arguably three. Saturday showed just how important that can be.