After last night’s 3-2 overtime loss to the Philadelphia Flyers, it has become abundantly clear that the Boston Bruins need more production from their bottom three lines. Here’s a look at how all four lines have faired so far this season.
The first line
The first line of David Pastrnak, Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron have tallied 61, 57 and 44 points, respectively, until this point in the season. They’ve been arguably the best line in the NHL all season long. Last night against the Flyers, both goals were scored by Pastrnak. Here’s the first one:
🚨GOAL!🚨
David Pastrnak scores on the Power Play! What else is new?
Pastrnak — Krug, Marchand (3:05) #LetsGoFlyers 0#NHLBruins 1 pic.twitter.com/fCDbirL7LX
— Boston Bruins on CLNS (@BruinsCLNS) February 1, 2019
On Tuesday against the Winnipeg Jets, Pastrnak had a goal and Bergeron had two. The Bruins have not had a goal from a player not named Bergeron or Pastrnak since their January 19 loss against the New York Rangers.
The second line
David Krejci has been a bright spot on the second line all year. While his wingers have come and gone, Krejci has managed 40 points in 51 games. The Bruins next highest forward point-getter is Jake DeBrusk who has 18 points in 42 games. Coming off an incredible performance in the playoffs last year against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Bruins fans had high expectations for DeBrusk coming into the 2018-19 season. Currently sporting a -5 plus/minus, the Bruins are hopeful DeBrusk can turn it around.
- Feed has no items.
The dreadful third line
The third line has been the Bruins’ Achilles heel so far this season. Head Coach Bruce Cassidy has tried multiple different combinations in hopes of increasing the scoring output. Danton Heinen, Ryan Donato, Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson, David Backes, and Joakim Nordstrom have all had their chances. Out of those five skaters, Heinen and Backes are tied for the highest point total with 13. Heinen had 16 goals last year but hasn’t had nearly as much success offensively this year. Last night he had a chance to take the lead in the third period with under three minutes to go in regulation, but the puck bounced off his stick instead.
Danton Heinen is cursed #NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/pyxaTFRQJv
— Boston Bruins on CLNS (@BruinsCLNS) February 1, 2019
There will almost certainly be more changes made to this line before the season’s end.
The fourth line
The fourth line for the Bruins has been a bright spot for the majority of the season. Although Noel Acciari was a healthy scratch last night, the fourth line of Acciari, Sean Kuraly and Chris Wagner have done their job. The group went on a hot streak at the end of December and into early January, contributing game-winning goals in the Winter Classic and in a matchup against the Buffalo Sabres. They’ve been a bit cold as of late. Cassidy replaced Acciari with Nordstrom last night in hopes of changing that, but the line went a combined -3 on the night.
Trade possibilities
The Bruins have been linked with numerous trade rumors. The likes of Brayden Schenn, Wayne Simmonds, Artemi Panarin and Vladimir Tarasenko have all been mentioned at one point or another. Last year, the Bruins acquired Rick Nash at the deadline. With the trade deadline approaching on February 25, only time will tell if they are willing to make a similar move.
With 31 games remaining in the regular season, the Bruins need more offensive production if they want to make a deep playoff run.