“Next man up” has its limits. The Bruins hit theirs on Friday, when they hosted the Rangers in a Black Friday matinee without their best player (David Pastrnak), top defenseman (Charlie McAvoy) and first-line center (Pavel Zacha). On top of all that, they also gave their red-hot No. 1 goalie (Jeremy Swayman) a breather after three straight starts.
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Add in the fact that this was the Bruins’ first game back home after a long road trip – one of those games every team circles as a tough one for a reason – and this was about as close to the dreaded “scheduled loss” as you’ll get.
Unsurprisingly, New York manhandled Boston en route to a 6-2 win.
Now, the Bruins shouldn’t be let completely off the hook. There was plenty they could have done better even with all of that taken into account. They made too many soft plays in the first period. They missed passes, even simple ones. They were standing around waiting for pucks to get to them instead of moving their feet to make sure they got to them first.
The Bruins also got into penalty trouble again, taking back-to-back high-sticks in the second period, including a double minor on Hampus Lindholm. That sequence led to a pair of power-play goals as the Rangers doubled their lead from 2-0 to 4-0. In the Bruins’ defense, the first high-sticking penalty, against Marat Khusnutdinov, wasn’t actually a penalty at all, as it was actually Vincent Trocheck’s own stick that hit him in the face. But Lindholm’s high-stick was legit, and only made the situation worse.
Joonas Korpisalo, getting his first start in nine days, continued a concerning trend of letting in an early goal. He has now surrendered a goal on one of the opponents’ first three shots of the game in seven of his 10 starts this season. This loss wasn’t on him in the end, but it was nonetheless his third straight loss individually.
Ultimately, though, there’s only so much the Bruins are going to be able to do when three of their best players are out and Swayman is getting a day off. To their credit, they said the right things after the game and refused to use the injuries as an excuse.
“Of course it’s hard, but it’s also an opportunity for guys to step up,” Hampus Lindholm said. “That’s the way it works in this league, and we need guys to go in and step into those roles and take the opportunities they’re given.”
Fair enough, but Alex Steeves isn’t David Pastrnak and Georgii Merkulov isn’t Pavel Zacha. Those were the two forwards who got top-six opportunities on Friday. Steeves has certainly established himself as someone who can be an effective role player for Boston, but he’s been better in a fourth-line spot than in the top six. Merkulov is having another good season for AHL Providence, but has one point in 11 career NHL games. He also had to fly in from Toronto on Thursday and jump into the lineup without a practice or morning skate to get assimilated.
There was at least one bit of encouraging injury news for the Bruins, as Casey Mittelstadt returned to the lineup after missing the last nine games with a lower-body injury. He also jumped in without the benefit of a practice or morning skate to help him get up to speed. Mittelstadt did score one of the Bruins' two goals, with Morgan Geekie getting the other. It was Geekie's 18th goal of the season, moving him back into a tie with Nathan MacKinnon for the league lead.
Bruins coach Marco Sturm pointed to the team’s hectic schedule as a bigger factor Friday than the injuries and roster turnover.
“I don’t think it has anything to do with the line combinations,” he said. “We knew it’s gonna be hard coming back from the road. I think that’s the biggest thing. Knowing maybe a few guys are missing too, but this is not an excuse. I think to survive those stretches with a lot of injuries, a lot of guys have to step up, and a lot of guys didn’t.”
The schedule won’t get any less hectic, as the Bruins are right back at it Saturday night when they host the Detroit Red Wings. Sturm said after Friday’s game that he didn’t yet know if Pastrnak or Zacha would be able to play Saturday. He did not disclose the nature of either player’s injury, but said before the game that are both are considered day-to-day. For Pastrnak, Friday was the first game he’s missed since the final game of the 2021-22 regular season, ending a streak of 298 consecutive games played, including playoffs.
The Bruins will need a better team effort Saturday night regardless of their injury situation. But the reality is it’s going to be awfully difficult for them to win games if this many key players remain out for any amount of time.