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The Boston Bruins, though not yet done with their four-game road trip, are mercifully done with California. In losses to the San Jose Sharks, Anaheim Ducks, and Los Angeles Kings -- an ugly three for any team to go against, of course -- the Bruins were outscored 9-to-3. Two of those goals came in their first game, a 3-2 defeat at the hands of
James Reimer and the Sharks, too.
The three losses dropped the Bruins to 0-6-0 against the league’s California-based squads this season.
Friday’s game in Anaheim came with a seat in the press box as a healthy scratch for the struggling
Jimmy Hayes. Saturday in L.A saw Hayes return to the Boston lineup, not in place of
Tyler Randell like most expected, but rather in place of the just-as-struggling
Brett Connolly.
Hayes didn’t return to the lineup with a bang -- he finished the night with four hits and zero shots on net in 16:05 of time on ice -- but the decision to plug No. 11 back into the lineup after a one-game breather told everyone that Hayes isn’t just completely entrenched in the Claude Julien doghouse.
I think it instead spoke to the idea that the Bruins aren’t exactly enamored with any particular 12-forward set. Or, as I’d like to call it, there’s nothing against a little competition for ice time.
Which is never a bad thing for any club, especially one entrenched in an absolute dogfight for playoff positioning, with the Bruins’ fate ranging from division-winner to second wild card club, really.
I suppose the real fight for a bottom-six scoring role is between Connolly and Hayes, of course, but it’s the play of Randell when he’s in the lineup that’s actually beginning to put that notion on hold. Even if it’s just to make things interesting. In just his 27th game of the season (and ninth of the calendar year) on Saturday, the 24-year-old Randell came through with his sixth goal of the season. On his 18th shot.
And yes, it’s all too easy to point at those numbers and say they’re not sustainable. Because they’re not. But when you look at Randell’s game, it’s what he’s done with the few minutes given and how it ties into the (lone) opening the Bruins have on their roster. They need a guy to come into their lineup, take advantage of limited ice time, provide a scoring presence, and anything else is really just a bonus.
Of the three that
have been in that role, however, it’s really only Randell that’s found success. I thought Connolly had a great start on a new-look fourth line with Noel Acciari and Landon Ferraro. And Hayes’ only fourth-line success really came in his hat trick night against Ottawa back in December.
I mean, if it’s the head-to-head-to-head you’re looking for, Randell’s put up three goals in his last 14 games played, while it’s taken Hayes, who plays on the B’s second power-play unit, 27 games to reach that mark. It’s taken Connolly 25 games, with many of those games spend on the Bergeron line, too.
But could No. 64 really be the long term solution on the B’s roster? I just don’t think so.
While the Bruins clearly appreciate what Randell does for their club, it’s clear that he’s not a player that Julien will exactly trust when it’s time to shorten the bench or come through with a solid defensive third. And how he’d handle the speed of the postseason remains an obvious question mark.
With Hayes, there’s just this feeling that you’re always left wanting more. Or that if he was just a bit quicker to react here or there, that he’d be at 20 goals by now, not 13. He doesn’t exactly skate like a guy that’s 6-foot-5, 215 pounds, and he doesn’t exactly look engaged every game. But then there are certain shifts where you see Hayes do all of the things he needs to do to be a success story in his hometown, and hope is reborn. I think almost the same exact thing can be said for Connolly, too.
In the final seventh of the season, though, it’s clear that the Bruins are running out of experimentations to find the right combination with both players in the lineup, and with the postseason around the corner, too. But the postseason is what could be the true X-factor for both talents, really. Hayes has played in just two career postseason contests (both with the Blackhawks back in 2012), while Connolly has never suited up for an NHL postseason game (but had six goals and 11 points in 16 games for the Syracuse Crunch back in their 2013 playoff run). But that opportunity, at least if one of the other guys (and Randell) have to something to say about it, won’t just be handed to them.
That’s especially true with the AHL’s top goal-scorer
Frank Vatrano, back with the Bruins on an emergency recall for the second time in a week, lurking and waiting for another NHL chance.
But it’s what any of these players do with the chance (and fewer minutes) they’re given that will dictate just who gets that chance come now, later, and eventually April and beyond.
Something Randell’s known since Day 1.
Ty Anderson has been covering the National Hockey League for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010, has been a member of the Pro Hockey Writers Association's Boston Chapter since 2013, and can be contacted on Twitter, or emailed at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com.
Boston Bruins Blogger •Bruins Feature Columnist • 
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