Here ya go, Mr. Smith:
People, in a word, duck!
A month ago, as they departed for the break after a convincing 6-2 matinee win in Philly, things were great. The Bruins stood 12-2-3 (.794) since the much-need Christmas break and a handful of their forwards were on fire.
David Pastrnak hit the break with 33 goals. Ten games later, he has 35.
Jake DeBrusk was 8-6–14 in 16 games prior to the break. He has two points
since, both of those coming in Wednesday night’s OT win in Edmonton, where the Bruins squandered a 4-1 lead. DeBrusk, without a contract beyond this season, is now the No. 1 candidate to be dealt prior to March 8.
Brad Marchand, a sizzling 11-8–19 in that 17-game stretch, has collected 2-3–5 over the last 10 games. One goal was shorthanded, the other at even strength, which means he is 0-for-10 on the advantage. The captain has scored one power-play goal since Jan. 8.
Charlie Coyle, without a goal on the recent 7-game homestand flop, scored a pair Thursday night in Calgary. He was cooking at a career-best 8-13–21 in those 17 games leading up to the break. Now he’s 2-4—6 in the last 10.
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The Neely-Sweeney “needs’ list as of this morning runs deep.
▪ With Hampus Lindholm expected out for a protracted stretch, back-end help has to be priority. That said, it was a priority before Lindholm went down Monday with his knee injury.
As much as they will miss his skill,
the Bruins already had not replaced the back-end moxie factor that exited the lineup when Connor Clifton departed as a UFA to Buffalo. Parker Wotherspoon has added a smidgen of that here and there, but much more is needed.
▪ Relief on the penalty kill. Both Coyle and Marchand receive ample time on the PK and PP units. It looks like time-on-ice has caught up with both of those thirty-somethings. Montgomery has to draw from others to ease their burden, or Sweeney and Neely have to find one or two PK drones in the trade market. Playing both of those guys to exhaustion is not the cure.
▪ Goal scoring. Remember the days when “Get us a sniper, Harry!” was the cure to all Bruins’ needs? Decades later, especially after these last 10 games, it stlll resonates. It’s just not that easy.
Rick Nash and Tyler Bertuzzi were top-six deadline acquisitions made in that spirit, and the results were, let us say, mixed at best. Don’t be looking for that guy now.
More realistically, they’ll move DeBrusk for a guy whose size and game (read: drool factor) can plug into the top six and buy (read: muscle up) some space for the likes of Marchand, Coyle, Pastrnak, and the
where-did-he-go? Pavel Zacha.
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Side note here:
A Canucks strategy was to pummel Pastrnak, early and often. The star Czech winger took two stiff hits early from 6-foot-6 Nikita Zadorov and then Noah Juulsen, both in the opening 10 minutes. Pastrnak finished 0-0–0, but kept firing, landing six of his nine shots.
Hammering Pasta will be high on every opponent’s list the rest of the way, for these next 23 games …and beyond, however long that ends up being.
“We played a desperate team that were on their toes and physical,” underscored Montgomery at the end of Saturday’s sputtering. “I think that’s why were in our end a lot.”
One team desperate, and the other team right now on its way to Palookaville.
Kevin Paul Dupont can be reached at
[email protected].
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Hey, KPD: I can't abide your noxious, cutesy prose for more than a few minutes before I have to run outside for some fresh air. You are a good writer when you want to be. Unfortunately, 90% of the time that isn't the case.
Like your pal CHB, you're a hack. Do yourself and the rest of us a favor. Retire.
Which you should have done 20 years ago.
www.bostonglobe.com
