Heading into their Monday night matchup in Brooklyn against the New York Islanders, its obvious that the Boston Bruins are yet to play at their full potential in 2021. Despite spotting a 1-0-1 record, good enough to collect three out of a possible four points, Boston is searching for their first 5 on 5 goal of the season. Their two game series against the New Jersey Devils saw Boston pepper Devils goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood with 65 shots which produced only three goals.
Unfortunately it appears some of the ugly trends from last years playoff bubble also made the trip to New Jersey. Two of Boston’s three goals came on the power play, the other on the penalty kill. Only five skaters for Boston have recorded a single point or more and the names, for the most part, come as no surprise- Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, Nick Ritchie, David Krejci, and Matt Grzelcyk. Boston, at least early on, is a far less intimidating team when they don’t cash in on the power play.
New Jersey is a ‘will over skill’ team that on paper doesn’t match up particularly well against teams like Boston, but they found themselves in a position to win late in each game. You could make the argument that New Jersey was by far the better team on Saturday and Boston was lucky to even secure their lone point.
Now when David Pastrnak, the reigning Rocket Richard Trophy winner for most goals in the league, is set to miss a significant portion of the season while he recovers from surgery, there is a good chance you aren’t going to look the same offensively. But this doesn’t change the fact that depth scoring wins in the playoffs and without it you’ll be lucky to make it there at all.
To make matters increasingly difficult for head coach Bruce Cassidy, Boston’s lone signed free agent Craig Smith had to miss their season opener after suffering a minor injury last week. Smith eventually made his Bruins debut on Saturday but you have to wonder the severity of his injury and the potential impact it’ll have on his game.
It appears Ondrej Kase will find himself out of the lineup today due to an injury he sustained after taking a Miles Wood stick in his facial area Saturday. The timing of which couldn’t have been worse for a team which views Kase as a player who can make a difference for them this season.
However, luck may just be on Bruins side tonight as they prepare for tonight’s opponent the New York Islanders. If history is any indicator it’ll be a grueling matchup between two teams who pride themselves on being very difficult to play against, but the Bruins have had their number recently.
Jake DeBrusk finds himself slotted along side Marchand and Bergeron on Boston’s first line. A lot like Kase, DeBrusk is an instrumental piece of Boston’s core moving forward. While a lot is expected, its only due to his skillset. DeBrusk is awarded a golden opportunity to prove his potential of developing into a first line wing the Bruins can continue to build around.
Boston desperately needs to gain some even strength offensive momentum, securing the games first goal will force the hand of a Islanders team that is far more comfortable playing with the lead than without it.
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