It certainly wasn’t the most sound plan going into the 2018-19 season, but following a quiet summer highlighted by deals for Chris Wagner and Joakim Nordstrom, Boston’s vision for its forward corps started to come into focus — as hazy as it might be.
Much like the previous year, Boston was set to put all of its chips in with a dominant top line of Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak — while relying on David Krejci to continue generating chemistry with Jake DeBrusk.
As for the bottom six? Well, the B’s seemed content with letting the chips fall where they may.
For most of the year, the results weren’t pretty.
Already starving for secondary scoring with key cogs like Bergeron out for over a month, the Bruins didn’t get much out of players like Danton Heinen (five points in 26 games), David Backes (one assist in 17 games) and Anders Bjork (three points in 20 games).
A revolving door of lineup shuffles followed. Add in a few AHL demotions — and subsequent recalls, and you have a bottom-six group that has largely struggled to provide scoring support for the likes of Marchand, Pastrnak, Krejci and more on a consistent basis.
That is, until recently.
Boston’s current amalgamation of forwards is far from what Cassidy and Co. envisioned at the outset of the 2018-19 campaign — with 23-year-old Colby Cave anchoring the second line from the pivot and Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson following suit on a “College Line” with an average age just over 22.
Injuries have certainly forced Cassidy’s hand as of late — with Bergeron still on the mend from a rib/sternoclavicular injury and DeBrusk’s timetable for a return still muddled due to a concussion.
And yet, even though their record stands at just 1-2 in their last three outings, the Bruins have largely controlled possession and generated a number of chances during that stretch — holding a dominant 47-20 edge in high-danger scoring chances against the Penguins, Sabres and Canadiens.
And while Boston’s new top line of Marchand, Krejci and Pastrnak have led the way (56.72 5v5 Corsi-For Percentage, 4.48 goals for per 60 minutes), it’s tough to ignore the production generated as of late from further down the depth chart.
Whether it be the suffocating forecheck of the fourth line or the potential of players like Forsbacka Karlsson on the third line, the makings of a potent bottom six finally seem to be coming into view for the B’s — even if it might lead to more headaches for Cassidy and his staff down the road.
Since their latest rearrangement, Boston’s checking line of Noel Acciari at the pivot and both Sean Kuraly and Wagner on the wings has been downright dominant as of late.
Over the last three games, the trio has combined for 20 shots on goal and 20 individual scoring chances for during 5v5 play — while dominating puck possession thanks to their aggressive forecheck.
In their last three games, Boston’s fourth line has primarily matched up against some imposing competition — with the trio tasked with slowing down Evgeni Malkin’s line (4:28 TOI), Jack Eichel’s line (8:48) and Max Domi’s line (6:10).
During 5v5 play in which Acciari was out on the ice at the same time as those skilled pivots, Boston held a 23-8 edge in attempts, 13-5 lead in shots, 9-1 advantage in high-danger scoring chances — and a plus-1 goal differential.
Good grief.
Even though they were held off the scoresheet in Boston’s dominant 4-0 drubbing of the Habs on Monday, that fourth line’s nonstop pressure in the offensive zone left Montreal (24 giveaways) scrambling.
"No passengers at all,” Cassidy said of Monday’s win. “We did what we had to do. We checked real well. We're going to make it hard for Montreal to create offense. … Some of that is obviously on Montreal. Some of that's on us — forced them into bad spots, forced them to throw pucks in the middle, Like I said before the game, we really nailed down what we wanted to get done. The forecheck this morning, neutral zone this afternoon and how we need to be better against a team with a lot of speed and skill.”
Out of all the forward lines that did damage against the Habs, the third line of Forsbacka Karlsson, Heinen and Ryan Donato were the most muted in terms of production, but still generated a positive shot differential (6-4) in over 10 minutes of TOI together during Monday’s win.
While the tangible scoring production has not been there as of late, the “College Line” still boasts a 52.68 CF% and a plus-11 shot differential during over 53 minutes of 5v5 TOI together, along with 15 individual high-danger scoring chances over its last three games.
JFK with the sweet backhand saucer pass to Danton Heinen, who buries his second goal in three games. pic.twitter.com/evQC5rNjwQ
— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) December 12, 2018
Nice forecheck leads to a Montreal turnover — and Nordstrom's fifth goal of the season. pic.twitter.com/977GrkMnYd
— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) December 18, 2018