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Things really have not gone as planned for the Boston Bruins, at least in terms of their offensive production, through the first 29 games of the season. Although the Bruins have been powered by David Pastrnak’s 18 goals and the best goaltending of Tuukka Rask’s NHL career, the Bruins currently find themselves stuck in a three-game losing streak and without the road getting any easier for the club, beginning with tonight’s head-to-head with the Montreal Canadiens.
But in an effort to prevent their current skid from reaching a season-high four straight losses, and with multi-goal deficits in each of their last three games, Bruins coach Claude Julien has put all four of his lines in one gigantic blender. Which honestly, with the Bruins having scored two goals or fewer in all nine of their 29 games to date (the Bruins are 7-12-1 in those games), may have been overdue.
“We definitely need more scoring throughout our lineup,,… Julien said after Saturday’s loss to the Maple Leafs. “You want to spread your scoring, our third-line needs to give us some production, doesn’t matter, it just seems whoever has been on that line we haven’t had a lot of production there. It’s got to be spread out, but at the same time I don’t care who scores them we just have to score.…
Pastrnak’s 18 goals have been taken off the top line and put on a second line with David Krejci and Tim Schaller. David Backes has moved up to the top line with Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand. Austin Czarnik has moved back to his natural center position on the B’s third line with Jimmy Hayes on the right and a rotation of Danton Heinen and Ryan Spooner on the left side, while Dominic Moore has moved to the left wing of a fourth line with Riley Nash at center and Noel Acciari on the right.
“You’ve seen our goals; Unless you’re Pasta [David Pastrnak] with the one-timer on the side, it’s been ugly, it’s been rebounds, it’s been greasy goals and that’s our equation and we need more of it,… Backes said of the team’s offense. “We’ve got good players in here that need to create more and find those second chances and win those battles, find those loose pucks, and throw them in the net.…
Tuukka Rask gets the called in net for the Bruins. Rask’s numbers have taken a somewhat expected dip of late -- the 29-year-old has two wins, 13 goals against, and an .897 save percentage in his last five games -- but he still has 14 wins and a .930 save percentage in 21 games this season.
But you can’t talk about Rask and the Canadiens without mentioning his struggles against the B’s archrival, as Rask comes into play with just five wins in 24 career games against the Canadiens.
The Canadiens, of course, won their last game by a 10-1 final over the Colorado Avalanche (the same Avalanche that the Bruins struggled to get two goals against just two nights prior), while Carey Price has been his usual godly self, with 16 wins and a .940 save percentage in 20 games this season.
Price has 24 wins and a .923 save percentage in 36 career games against the Black and Gold, and has not lost to the Bruins since Feb. 6, 2013, which was 10 starts ago for the 6-foot-3 netminder.
This is the third of four meetings between the B’s and Habs this year. Montreal has won both thus far.
- Brad Marchand has two goals and seven points in the last eight games.
- B’s center David Krejci has four goals and 26 points in 42 career games against the Canadiens.
- Torey Krug has been held without a point in four of his last five games.
- Alexander Radulov has five goals and 17 points in 15 home games this season.
- The Canadiens have clicked at 24.1% on the power play at home, the seventh-best mark in the NHL.
Other news and notes
Although Rask has struggled against the Canadiens in his career, it’s worth noting that all five of his wins against Montreal have come on the road, while No. 40 has recorded four wins and allowed just 13 goals in his last seven starts at the Bell Centre. He has a .930 save percentage there overall.
Without a morning skate to say otherwise, Colin Miller stands as the expected healthy scratch while one of either Heinen or Spooner look like the healthy scratch up front.
Ty Anderson has been covering the National Hockey League for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010 and has been a member of the Pro Hockey Writers Association's Boston Chapter since 2013. Ty is also the Boston Bruins beat writer and columnist for WEEI.com, and can also be found in the New England Hockey Journal. Contact him on Twitter or send him an email at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com.