You may look at the Bruins 5-1 record to start the season and think it’s all gravy in Boston.
The line of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak have been tremendous to start the season. Goalies Jaroslav Halak and Tuukka Rask have allowed just 10 goals in six games. And the Bruins are tied with the Tampa Bay Lightning for the fourth most effective power play in all of hockey.
So where are the issues?
To date, the Bruins have scored 16 times. Marchand, Bergeron and Pastrnak have combined for 11 of those 16 goals.
69% of the Bruins goals this season have come from their top line.
Furthermore, of the five goals not scored by the Bergeron line, only three have come off the sticks of Bruins forwards (Brett Ritchie, Danton Heinen and Joakim Nordstrom). Torey Krug and Zdeno Chara have the other two goals.
“What’s on the forefront of my mind is more the other guys, what could we do to help them get going? And what can they do themselves to help themselves?,” head coach Bruce Cassidy said Monday afternoon following the Bruins victory over the Anaheim Ducks.
“So that, as a coach, is what I’m thinking about. I’m happy they’re [the Bergeron line] on, they’re going, the power play unit’s found their mojo again, so that’s good. But my mind’s more on the other group. How can we help them out? And we’ll keep looking at it.”
The Bruins can continue to look at it, and even move some pieces around on their middle two lines, but is that really the answer to their scoring problems?
On the other hand, are the Bruins best to wait it out and remain patient?
David Krejci—who was injured in Monday’s contest and out for Thursday's matchup with the Lightning—is coming off a year where he tied a career high in points with 73, and hit the 20-goal mark for the third time in his career.
Krejci’s linemate Jake DeBrusk increased his goal total from 16 in his rookie season to 27 in year two, and with a hopeful healthy year on tap, should once again knock on the door of a 30-goal season.
After a stellar performance in the Stanley Cup Playoffs and the team’s preseason MVP, Charlie Coyle has just one point in six games.
There’s too much talent with the Krejci’s, DeBrusk’s and Coyle’s of the world for zeros on the board to linger on, but how effective can these three, among the other Bruins forwards be when it comes to secondary scoring? And how consistent can they be as an alternative scoring option to the Bruins three-headed monster of a top line?
So what do the Bruins need to do to find some secondary scoring?
Let’s start simple: pucks on net.
The Bruins are 16th in the league with a Corsi For of 335, however, 92 (27%) of those shot attempts have come for the Bergeron line.
Not terrible.
One area where the Bruins can improve on is on how many shots actually hit the net. As you can see from the chart below, the Bruins are at the bottom of the barrel when it comes to getting shots on net.
As much as the Bruins are having issues getting pucks to the net, when they do they’re coming from a good distance.
With the Tampa Bay Lightning in town Thursday night, the Bruins get a Lightning team that is currently allowing 34.2 shots per game, third most in the NHL. Thursday should provide the Bruins with a golden opportunity to get shots on net and hopefully some life into their secondary scoring.
With Krejci out, Coyle will center the second line in the middle of DeBrusk and Ritchie, while Par Lindholm jumps back into the lineup, centering Heinen and Karson Kuhlman.
Stats and graphs via
Natural Stat Trick and
Sean Tierney.
Boston Bruins Blogger • 
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