Bruins
“We talked about getting again to an identification that we wished to get again to. It’s in regards to the course of.”
The Bruins’ ahead corps has been put in a blender up to now this season.
Be it Jim Montgomery’s propensity for reshuffling his strains or Boston’s incapability to generate offensive traction, the Bruins have discovered little chemistry of their personnel up entrance this fall.
By means of 28 video games, the Bruins have already featured a whopping 22 completely different ahead strains which have logged no less than 10 minutes of ice time this season. Of these 22, just one trio has recorded over 125 minutes collectively — a fourth-line grouping of Mark Kastelic, Johnny Beecher, and Cole Koepke.
Since taking the helm of the Bruins final month, Joe Sacco has normally opted to let Boston’s strains marinate a bit extra in hopes of constructing some rapport amongst an underachieving crop of skaters.
However Boston’s interim head coach has opted to get a bit extra inventive in current days. The outcomes have helped Boston safe its first three-game win streak of the season.
Whereas Sacco’s affect behind the bench has seen Boston shift again to the simplified, shot-first strategy that ought to profit the personnel at present on the Bruins’ roster, the Medford native seemingly made all the proper strikes along with his roster throughout Wednesday’s 4-2 win over the Blackhawks.
“I simply attempt in small increments,” Sacco stated Wednesday of righting the ship in Boston. “We attempt as a workers to assist the staff get higher day-after-day. We talked about getting again to an identification that we wished to get again to. It’s in regards to the course of. I do know it’s cliché, however it actually is.”
After a sluggish begin throughout Wednesday’s matchup in Chicago, Sacco opted to reshuffle his top-six unit, frontloading Boston’s high line with David Pastrnak, Elias Lindholm, and Brad Marchand.
Stapling Lindholm subsequent to a scoring juggernaut like Pastrnak felt like one of many few simple lineup requires the Bruins coming into the 2024-25 marketing campaign. However Montgomery opted to separate up Lindholm and Pastrnak on the finish of October after underwhelming returns.
On the time, the Bruins had solely scored two objectives (and surrendered two objectives) through the 95:52 of 5-on-5 reps that Pastrnak and Lindholm recorded collectively.
However on Wednesday, the Marchand-Lindholm-Pastrnak line feasted towards Chicago — with Marchand lighting the lamp twice within the span of two:05 within the second interval.
The primary aim got here after an offensive-zone faceoff win from Lindholm, jumpstarting a set play that ended with Pastrnak feeding Marchand for a one-timer blast.
On their subsequent shift, Pastrnak’s drive into the slot and ensuing shot on aim generated a rebound that Marchand knocked residence for his tenth tally of the season.
A porous Chicago protection is probably not the litmus take a look at groups ought to gauge in the case of assessing their offensive ceiling.
However preserving the Marchand-Lindholm-Pastrnak line intact shifting ahead has loads of enchantment, particularly if it continues to maintain each Lindholm and Pastrnak engaged with a playmaker in Marchand who’s beginning to warmth up (5 objectives, seven factors in eight video games).
With Pastrnak bumped as much as a line with Marchand and Lindholm, Sacco rolled with an overhauled “second” line that includes Morgan Geekie, Pavel Zacha, and Justin Brazeau.
Each Geekie and Zacha — very similar to the remainder of Boston’s forwards — have gone by way of some robust sledding in 2024-25.
However after logging simply 5 minutes of ice time collectively coming into Wednesday night time, the Geekie-Zacha-Brazeau trio outscored Chicago, 2-0, and generated a 5-0 edge in pictures on aim in simply 4:31 of 5-on-5 reps on Wednesday.
Geekie’s first aim got here at 12:17 within the first interval within the midst of a line change. As Brazeau corralled a puck behind Chicago’s internet, he fed the puck to a charging Geekie — contemporary off the bench — who buried his second-chance bid for his third aim of the 12 months.
Sacco opted to maintain that group collectively shifting ahead, with Brazeau establishing Geekie for a breakaway look (and his second aim of the night time) at 5:02 within the third interval.
The Bruins nonetheless have a methods to go in the case of regaining its scoring punch, particularly on the ability play. However at 5-on-5 play, the Bruins have no less than began to discover a bit extra cohesion with their lineup.
Sacco’s resolution to bump Mark Kastelic as much as a 3rd line with Charlie Coyle and Trent Frederic has injected a bit extra tempo and physicality into an space of the depth chart that has been too quiet this 12 months. And even when they haven’t scored, a fourth-line grouping of Marc McLaughlin, Beecher, and Koepke have tilted the ice in Boston’s favor each time they’ve been out on a shift.
Regardless of incomes a majority of their reps towards Connor Bedard’s line, Boston’s checking unit held a 3-1 edge in pictures on aim and gave up zero tallies of their 7:54 of 5-on-5 reps on Wednesday.
Questions will stay about simply how a lot ability and scoring contact there realistically is on this Bruins roster, in addition to how a lot inventory needs to be put into performances towards cellar-dwellers like Chicago.
However up to now, Sacco appears to be pushing all the precise buttons to get extra out of this group.
That in itself appears like a win at this stage of the season.
“We’re getting there,” Sacco stated. “There’s nonetheless spurts and moments through the sport. It’s by no means going to be good. Everyone knows that. There’s moments and spurts through the sport the place I believe we are able to do issues a bit bit higher. Handle the sport. Total, I actually just like the route we’re going.”
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