While the Bruins didn’t score a lot during Brad Marchand’s three-game suspension, they did have some guys step up and play pretty well. Getting a point Saturday against Tampa Bay -- in a game in which they also didn’t have Charlie McAvoy -- was legitimately encouraging.
The hope was that other guys would continue to play well upon Marchand’s return and provide the Bruins with some depth they too often haven’t had this season. Wednesday night’s 2-1 shootout loss to the Canucks was not a good start.
This looked too much like the same old story, with the only offense coming from the top line of Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak.
The Bruins out-attempted the Canucks 21-6 and outshot them 11-1 when those three were on the ice at 5-on-5. While they didn’t convert any of those even-strength chances, they did tie the game on a 5-on-3 power play in the third when Pastrnak found Bergeron in the slot with a slap pass that Bergeron redirected past Thatcher Demko.
The other three lines? Very little there. The second line of Taylor Hall, Charlie Coyle and Craig Smith was particularly invisible. They combined for zero shots on goal during their 7:01 of 5-on-5 time, with the Canucks out-attempting the Bruins 15-3 during those shifts.
Interim coach Joe Sacco eventually made the decision to drop Hall, who finished the game without a single shot attempt, down to the third line and move Erik Haula up to the second. Haula did play well with Coyle and Smith while Marchand was out, and he did have a goal called back for offsides Wednesday night.
Hall played well on the top line in Marchand’s absence, but Wednesday night was about as bad as he’s looked in a Bruins uniform. We can debate whether the Bruins should’ve kept him with Pastrnak, but regardless of whom he’s playing with, Hall needs to be better. He needs to play more like the way he did on the top line. If Hall’s only going to be effective if he’s on the top line and not when he’s on the second, the Bruins are in trouble. This is twice now that he’s been dropped down to the third line in-game, which is two times too many.
The Bruins’ bottom six wasn’t necessarily bad Wednesday, but it continues to look more like two fourth lines. You know that group’s offensive upside is limited when Trent Frederic, who has six points in 74 career NHL games, is your third-line center. All the more reason the Bruins need a lot more from their second line, particularly Hall.
Another area where Bergeron in particular continues to not get enough support is in the physicality department. Last Thursday, the Predators clearly made an effort to target the Bruins’ captain, and Filip Forsberg actually broke Bergeron’s nose with a high hit. The Bruins didn’t really have any response.
On Wednesday, Canucks defenseman Kyle Burroughs took a shot at Bergeron’s full face shield after the whistle. While it was never going to do any real damage, it was another player allowed to poke the bear and face no repercussions.
The Bruins didn’t need to goon it up, especially when they were protecting a 2-0 lead (in Nashville) or tied 1-1 (in Vancouver). But at some point you have to make it clear that you’re not going to allow it to be open season on your captain. Take a number and make sure someone lands a hard, clean hit on the next shift.
That’s a role the bottom six should be playing, especially if they’re not contributing offensively. During a discussion about the Bruins’ bottom three lines on Gresh & Keefe Wednesday, Rich Keefe broke out the Office Space “What would you say you do here?” line. It’s a pretty fair question right now.
They’ll need to find an answer quickly. The Bruins’ next two games are against two of the best teams in the NHL: the Oilers and Flames. One line won’t be enough to compete with those teams.
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