When we all looked at the Bruins' top two lines going into the season, the biggest questions were naturally about the two centers, Pavel Zacha and Charlie Coyle, who were being tasked with replacing Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci.
But there was also a pretty big question on the wing: How much does James van Riemsdyk have left in the tank?
Over the long haul, that question obviously hasn't been answered yet. But the early returns suggest there's still something there, with van Riemsdyk's two goals in Saturday's 3-2 win over the Predators showcasing what he brings to the table and offering some reason to believe a bounce-back season could be in store.
Both of his goals came on the power play and both came right around the net-front, where he's made his living throughout his career. On the first, van Riemsdyk took a pass from Brad Marchand at the right side of the net, then tried to feed a pass across the front to David Pastrnak that instead deflected into the net off a Nashville defender.
While it could be tempting to call that a lucky goal, it's a play where van Riemsdyk created his own luck by aggressively attacking the net and putting the defense in an awkward spot. When the Bruins' power play went quiet in the second half last season, one of the problems was that they weren't doing enough of that.
With goals expected to be harder to come by for the Bruins this season, especially early on, getting the power play off to a good start and avoiding prolonged slumps will be crucial. Wednesday's season-opener was a sloppy one for the top power-play unit. Saturday was a much better showing, and van Riemsdyk was a big reason why.
His second power-play goal of the night proved to be the game-winning goal. Once again, he was right around the net, this time in perfect position to tip in a Charlie McAvoy shot.
"He's made a living his entire career in front of the net," McAvoy told NESN after the game. "He's one of the guys you still talk about when you talk about being a really good net-front presence. It's going to be my job and all of our jobs to give him a chance in front when he's working hard to get himself body position."
Van Riemsdyk's value on the power play was evident Saturday. Of course, being a top-six forward means producing at 5-on-5, too. Saturday night was not the best for judging 5-on-5 play, with 11 total penalties greatly disrupting the flow and resulting in nearly half the game being played on special teams.
Still, van Riemsdyk did have a couple more chances at 5-on-5. On one, he flashed some good hands and patience to get Nashville goalie Juuse Saros down and nearly tucked the puck around him inside the post, but Saros made a great recovery to kick out his right leg. On another play, McAvoy probably should've been looking for him the same way he did on the power play. Van Riemsdyk established body position right in front of Saros and McAvoy had a shooting lane to use van Riemsdyk for a screen or deflection, but instead tried a seam pass that got broken up.
The line of van Riemsdyk, Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha hasn't combined for a 5-on-5 goal yet, but their underlying numbers are encouraging. In the 12:43 they've played together through two games, the Bruins have a 15-6 advantage in shot attempts, 8-1 advantage in scoring chances, and 73.6% of expected goals.
If that line can produce and van Riemsdyk can stick there, it would be a major coup for the Bruins. While van Riemsdyk has undoubtedly been a productive top-six forward for much of his career, the 34-year-old's value was way down after he dipped to 12 goals in 61 games last season. Boston wound up signing him to a one-year deal worth just $1 million.
In just two games in Boston, van Riemsdyk already has as many power-play goals (2) as he had all last season on a bad Flyers team. He is clearly in a much better situation now. Bouncing back towards something around his 2021-22 total of 24 goals – or possibly even more – would be huge for the Bruins, and a night like Saturday offers reason to believe that's possible.
