After three straight games of scoring five goals, the Bruins offense was nowhere to be found Sunday night in a 4-0 loss to the Calgary Flames.
Making his weekly appearance on The Greg Hill Show, Mike Milbury said he was particularly unimpressed with the top line of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak, and thinks both those players and the team as a whole could benefit from a shakeup.
“Their top line was trying to play like they’re the Harlem Globetrotters. It doesn’t work. I think it’s time to break it up,” Milbury said.
While the “perfection line” has still been really good for the most part this season (plus-4 goal differential at 5-on-5, 65.4% Corsi), their offensive numbers have dipped a little. Among the 100 most common lines in the NHL, Marchand-Bergeron-Pastrnak ranked seventh in goals per 60 minutes last season with 4.57. This season they’re 23rd at 3.81.
As for what Milbury would do, he said moving Pastrnak down to the second line to see if he and Hall together can help turn that line into a more consistent scoring threat.
“I think Pasta’s the easy guy,” Milbury said. “Bergeron and Marchand have been together so long, and their chemistry seems to be intact. Pastrnak with Hall… you still have the doughnut line with the hole in the middle. You have to find somebody who can distribute the puck easily and effectively, even if he doesn’t score a lot of goals. I don’t have an answer to that.”
Listen to the full interview below:
