The good news for the Bruins is that they got a point Sunday in Philadelphia and are up to 95 on the season. With Detroit losing in regulation earlier in the day, Boston's chances to make the playoffs are up to 97%, according to HockeyStats.com.
The Bruins seem destined for the first wild card spot at this point. They are five points above wild card two (Ottawa), but five points back of third place in the Atlantic Division (Buffalo/Montreal). In that sense, Boston is actually in a fairly comfortable place with four games left in the regular season.
On the ice, however, the Bruins' play has been anything but comforting of late. They lost their third straight game Sunday, falling to the Flyers 2-1 in overtime. They have scored just one goal in each of those three losses. Needless to say, this isn't exactly a good time to have your offense go quiet.
The frustration was punctuated by the sight of the Bruins' two best players – David Pastrnak and Charlie McAvoy – marching to the penalty box seconds apart in overtime Sunday, handing the Flyers a 5-on-3 and, ultimately, the winning goal from 19-year-old Porter Martone.
Pastrnak took a hooking penalty after losing the puck in the offensive zone, his second careless turnover of the overtime. Apparently exhausted, Pastrnak desperately lunged at Christian Dvorak with his stick instead of trying to skate with him.
Right off the ensuing faceoff, Charlie McAvoy lost control of his stick and whacked Trevor Zegras in the face. From there, it only took the Flyers' power play 15 seconds to win the game.
Pastrnak and McAvoy have both had some hot stretches since the Olympic break, but they have also both had a role to play in this recent cold spell. McAvoy has gone three games without a point, his first such stretch since December. Pastrnak has gone six games without a goal, although he does at least have seven assists in that time.
Others have been quieter, and for longer. Morgan Geekie has now gone 17 games without a goal, and 22 games without a 5-on-5 goal. He also got into penalty trouble Sunday with a pair of minors in the second period, including a bizarre decision to throw his stick onto the ice from the bench for McAvoy after McAvoy's stick had broken. Bruins coach Marco Sturm tried putting Geekie back with Pastrnak on the top line Sunday in an effort to spark something, but it didn't work.
Youngsters Fraser Minten and Marat Khusnutdinov had been on Pastrnak's line prior to Sunday, but they weren't exactly lighting it up either. Minten has five points in 21 games since the Olympic break; Khusnutdinov seven. Elias Lindholm had seemingly turned a corner with seven points in six games to close out March, but he has now started April with no points in three games.
The fourth line of Tanner Jeannot, Sean Kuraly and Mark Kastelic, a mainstay that Sturm has not touched since the Olympic break, has now gone 20 games without a goal. While scoring isn't that trio's primary responsibility, they also can't go a quarter of a season without providing any offense whatsoever.
Only the second line of Pavel Zacha, Viktor Arvidsson and Casey Mittelstadt continues to produce with any kind of regularity. And given that they're also tasked with matching up against opponents' top lines, the Bruins are asking a lot if they need to be both the shutdown line and the scoring line.
So, what can the Bruins do about all this? Well, one move would be calling up James Hagens from Providence. The seventh overall pick from last summer could inject some needed energy and skill into the group, just as Martone, the player picked one spot ahead of Hagens, has done for the Flyers this past week.
The question is, is Hagens ready? If we're being fair about this, the 19-year-old forward has not exactly kicked down the door in the AHL. He has one goal and three assists in six games for Providence, which is perfectly solid. But only one of those points has come at 5-on-5, with the other three on the power play. He has also landed just two shots on goal in his last three games combined.
The Bruins would probably like to see Hagens make a bit more of an impact in non-power play situations. But they also want to see their NHL offense come back to life, including on the power play. Hagens might be able to help with that, even though he obviously can't be expected to be the cure-all.
The reality is that the Bruins' offense hasn't gone quiet because Lukas Reichel or Mikey Eyssimont is playing over Hagens. It's gone quiet because Boston's top players just haven't been good enough recently.
Getting back on track isn't going to get any easier when the Bruins close out their road trip Tuesday night in Carolina against one of the NHL's stingiest defenses.
