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Last night, the Bruins put an end to a turbulent 2014 year with a 4-3 shootout loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs. It was the 92nd game of the year for Boston (80 regular season, and 12 postseason), with the Bruins winning 54 of those contests, and put an end to a year that seemed to bring more bad than good for the B’s. Sure, the Bruins won the Presidents’ Trophy and made the second-round of the playoffs for the fifth time in the last six seasons, but aging, cap woes, and a cultural change to the Bruins’ philosophy seemed to put a real damper on the calendar year, and left a lot of Bruins ‘looking forward’ to putting this 365 behind ‘em.
And so should you. Here are some 2015 resolutions to get your new year started off on the right foot.
First, for the players…
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David Krejci-- Just, like, do whatever (and I mean whatever) to stay in the lineup. Sleep in an iron lung if you have to. The difference between a Boston lineup
with Krejci in the lineup versus without him borders on actually unbelievable. In 18 games with Krejci in the lineup, the Bruins are 11-6-1 (with 58 goals for, or 3.2 goals for per game), and have scored three goals or more in 12 of those 18 games. Without Krejci, they’re 8-9-3, and have just 43 goals for (or 2.15 goals per game). Krejci has a trickle-down effect on this roster, too, as it allows
Patrice Bergeron’s line to focus their efforts on a strong two-way game, while the Carl Soderberg line gets to feast on weaker defensive pairings.
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Brad Marchand-- Continue to drive to the net. If there’s one noticeable difference in Marchand’s game as of late (and this one probably goes beyond just Marchand, too), it’s been his drive to the front of the net. Look back towards the B’s 5-2 win over Detroit on Monday. Marchand dug in, battled around the net, and straight-up took
Kyle Quincey out of the play with his determination around the crease. The 5-foot-9 winger did much of the same to
Dion Phaneuf on Wednesday night, even if he didn’t have anything to show for it. Marchand’s best season as a Bruin (a 27-goal campaign in 2011-12) came with a whole bunch of net-front looks. He’s not at that pace, though he’s the Bruins’ only goal-scorer in double-digits, but the 26-year-old seems to get stronger in the attacking zone every game.
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Milan Lucic-- Find a way to get angry, I don’t know, all the time? That’s tough to do, especially over the course of an 82-game regular season, but when Lucic is hot upstairs, his game shows it. Last night was just another example of that. Following an early game exchange with Korbinian Holzer, the 6-foot-4 power forward looked like a totally different player. He was engaged, driving to the net, and set a tone for his line. At the same time, it’s such a thin line for Lucic. You don’t want him to be an absolute loose cannon out there, but that controlled rage has its benefits for both No. 17 and the Black and Gold.
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Loui Eriksson-- Be selfish. It’s OK. The Bruins love Eriksson’s game, and understandably so. It’s tough to find a guy with great possession numbers, a strong hockey I.Q., and 30-goal hands. And Eriksson has that. The latter of the three has been on display as of late, too, and that’s been a result of Eriksson simply trusting his shot a whole lot more than he appeared to in his first 90-something games with the club. He’s scored six goals and 11 points in his last 11 games played, and so much of that has come back to Eriksson simply looking towards the net, not his linemates, when the puck is on his stick. Given the offseason loss of Jarome Iginla, the Bruins
want Eriksson to shoot the puck like he has during this stretch.
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Matt Bartkowski-- Score a goal and skate with the confidence that put you back in the lineup. (But mainly get career goal No. 1 out of the way before it eats you alive, man.) I don’t think that Bartkowski has been given a fair shake when it comes to his expectations versus what he is. The 26-year-old is in just his second season of playing in at least 20 NHL games, and you’re starting to well, notice that. He’s taken ownership for his shortcomings or mistakes, and built off of them. He’s contributed with four points on the year, and has shown flashes of some offensive upside. He’s played better than most would want to give him credit for, but it’s on the Pittsburgh, Penn. native to prove that he can do it all on a
consistent basis.
For the coach…
- Find a game on the schedule where you could commit to a Lucic-Krejci-Eriksson line for the full 60.
Claude Julien toyed with this idea for a bit last week, and even threw the trio out there in an effort to go for the regulation win in the final minute-plus of Wednesday’s eventual shootout loss, but he’s still been (understandably) hesitant to separate Eriksson from Carl Soderberg on Boston’s third line. But before the B’s go out and spend assets on a potential fix for that first line, I think it’s of the utmost importance that they give Eriksson at least one full game/week of practice with Lucic and Krejci to see if there’s any magic. Krejci would obviously like a longer look with Eriksson, and I think his game is one that would be beneficial to his opposite winger, Milan Lucic, who has struggled to find the back of the net with his usual regularity.
- Consider, even for a minute, the idea of rolling three lines, not four, in the late moments of a tied game. Listen, Julien is a coach that goes to bat for his players and believes that forward No. 12 is as valuable as forward No. 1, but his desire to roll the
Danny Paille-
Gregory Campbell and (_________) line out at a critical points has hurt the club at times this season. Last night’s game was another example of that. In a nightmare of a game that saw the fourth line frequently stuck in the mud of their own end, a late-game sequence from the Paille-Campbell-Cunningham trio gave Jonathan Bernier a much needed break at his end of the ice, and really put an end to the relentless barrage they were peppering him with in search of the go-ahead (and what would have been game-winning) marker. The painful truth of the matter is that this is no longer the ‘best fourth line in hockey’ like in 2011, and it’s on Julien to realize that and utilize it as such.
- Use Torey Krug in the shootout. Always! Talking to Krug about his successful attempt last night, I asked about his shootout history. He’s now gone twice in the NHL (1-for-2) and twice in the AHL (1-for-2). But he told me, “I’m really 2-for-2, with two posts. My life.” It’s an interesting call, as you really don’t see many defenseman go in the first three rounds of the shootout (Pittsburgh’s
Kris Letang is really one of the only ones that comes to mind), but Krug has the skill and quickness to make it work.
For the general manager/front office…
- Don’t panic your way into something fierce. The entire league knows that you’re looking for a top-six winger, and 29 general managers wanna take you to the woodshed to get you one. Given your lack of cap space, and unwillingness to part with a piece of your core, the pickings are slim. But even so, it’s on your club to realize that somebody like Chris Stewart is not worth a top prospect (
Alex Khokhlachev) and a first, nor would he be anything close to the savior that the team needs in 2015. The Bruins ran into a similar problem in 2010, with sky-high prices for aging vets and spare parts, and opted to instead make a series of seemingly lateral moves (swapping out Derek Morris for the cap space to acquire Dennis Seidenberg). The Bruins will likely be bit more aggressive than they were then, but I think the overall philosophy will remain the same in the sense that they’re not going to overpay for marginal talents or reclamation projects.
- But at the same time, don’t think this whole thing is gonna figure itself out. You still don’t have the weapons to hang with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Pittsburgh Penguins, or even the Montreal Canadiens in a seven-game series. Seth Griffith, though a solid player that’s learning how to be a pro on the fly, is not the answer on the first line. The same can be said for Cunningham. And I’d even go as far to say that 2014 first-rounder
David Pastrnak is not walking through that door to be a savior in 2015. The Bruins need help up front, and there can’t be a single stone left unturned before that Mar. 2nd trade deadline.
- Figure out your plans for both Krug and forward
Reilly Smith. It’s now Jan. 1, and they’re officially eligible to sign long-term extensions with the club. They’re both signed to team-friendly, one-year deals worth $1.4 million each, but their value to the club is much more than that, and the B’s know it. Krug’s resume speaks for itself, and his shot and presence on that first power play unit has been a complete game-changer for the Bruins’ man advantage. This is a player with 27 goals and 71 points in 140 games since the start of the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs. He’s the real deal puck-mover they’ve longed for. On Smith, it’s been a hit-or-miss type of career -- with prolonged cold stretches washed out by the points that pile up with his lethal shot -- but he’s still an undeniable fit on the B’s second or third line moving forward. If you can get these guys in with average annual values at a combined $5 to 5.5 million, you’re more than good.
- Try not to give any more guys away for nothing via the waiver wire. It seems to bug people.
Ty Anderson has been covering the Boston Bruins for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010, is a member of the Pro Hockey Writers Association's Boston Chapter, and can be contacted on Twitter, or emailed at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com
Boston Bruins Blogger •Bruins Feature Columnist • 
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