On Saturday night, the Bruins beat a New Jersey Devils team that has plummeted since top center Jack Hughes suffered a freak injury at a team dinner, having now lost five straight and eight of their last 11. On Boston’s upcoming road trip, they’ll see a Winnipeg Jets team that has similarly struggled without star goalie Connor Hellebuyck, limping to a 2-6-1 record in their last nine.
On paper, the Bruins are not as talented as the Devils or Jets, two teams that entered the season dreaming of deep playoff runs. In theory, playing without David Pastrnak and Charlie McAvoy should have Boston tumbling down the standings even quicker than those teams are.
But… that’s not happening. No one would accuse the Bruins of setting the world on fire at the moment, but they are surviving. In fact, after Saturday’s 4-1 win over New Jersey, they’re now 3-2-0 in the five games that both Pastrnak and McAvoy have missed.
It doesn’t really make sense, but they’ve managed to find a formula that has at least allowed them to keep their head above water. It was a formula that was on display Saturday, and that Nikita Zadorov summed up pretty well after the game.
“It's depth. Obviously, all the guys showing up,” Zadorov said. “I mean, Geeks is really hot right now. Steeves is playing well. Our third, fourth line is playing really well as well. So, I think every guy chipped in. Obviously, there was a message in here that you don't need to do extra. You just got to be yourself. You got to play your own hockey. And we are good enough to win games like that. I think when those guys, the skilled guys, the top guys, they're out, you got to rely on your system a little bit more, and I think our system sets us up really well for the future and for the present.”
Morgan Geekie scored again Saturday, his 22nd goal of the season. He now has five goals and four assists in the five games since Pastrnak went down. Alex Steeves, playing on that first line alongside Geekie with Pastrnak out, has five goals in the last six games. Elias Lindholm, back on that top line after returning from injury two weeks ago, set up Geekie’s goal Saturday and now has eight points in the last five games.
The reunited second line of Casey Mittelstadt, Pavel Zacha and Viktor Arvidsson is finding their groove again with Mittelstadt and Arvidsson both recently returning from injury. They combined for three goals in Thursday’s win over St. Louis, and scored again Saturday on a pretty tic-tac-toe passing play from Arvidsson to Zacha to Mittelstadt.
The third line of Tanner Jeannot, Fraser Minten and Mark Kastelic has become the Bruins’ identity line with their forechecking prowess, and on Saturday they finally got rewarded with a goal when Kastelic stole the puck from Simon Nemec and set up Minten in front.
On the back end, Zadorov continues to play like a No. 1 defenseman with McAvoy out. His partner, Jonathan Aspirot, continues to take advantage of the opportunity he’s been getting. They were both a plus-3 Saturday while playing over 20 minutes.
The biggest part of the formula, though, may very well be in net. After an off night his last time out Tuesday in Detroit, Jeremy Swayman bounced back with a stellar performance Saturday, stopping 29 of the 30 shots he faced. His best save came with 4:55 remaining in what was still a 2-1 game at the time, when he went post-to-post to rob Connor Brown. Just over a minute later, Mittelstadt made it 3-1.
For coach Marco Sturm, the name of the game is structure and buy-in for the Bruins right now.
“For me, it's all about structure. That’s what it is,” Sturm said. “I personally experienced that in Los Angeles with the Kings. I experienced that in the minors. It's just that the system we play, the structure we play in, and when everyone buys in, a lot of times, it doesn't matter who's in and out. Of course, you still need good players, don't get me wrong, but I’ve seen that movie before. There's nothing we can do with injuries, but I think the guys know it too now, that they can rely on that system, and it works, especially when guys are out.”
The Bruins are looking like a team that believes that. And they’re sounding like a team that believes they’re a good one, a confidence that was expressed by their youngest player Saturday night when he was asked what winning without Pastrnak and McAvoy says about them.
“That we’re a good hockey team,” Fraser Minten said. “And we're here to compete this season and push to be a playoff team. We got all the confidence in this room that we can do that, and hopefully can continue to play like that.”