Analysis: How has the Bruins’ offense managed to stay afloat without David Pastrnak? 5 observations after 2 weeks without No. 88

The Bruins have weathered injuries plenty of times already this season, but following the news of David Pastrnak’s departure — out for at least two weeks due to thumb surgery — something felt a bit different.

It wasn’t an insurmountable loss — after all, Boston managed to go 9-6-1 in over a month without their key cog in the middle in Patrice Bergeron — but the writing was on the wall for some serious regression in an area of the game that the Bruins have labored in all season long.

Ranked 17th in the league in goals per game (2.88) and 27th overall at 5v5 goals scored (95) at the time of Pastrnak’s injury, Boston was set to lose its top goal scorer and power-play weapon — with Pastrnak on pace for 45 tallies and 97 points on the year.

With a one-timer that’s near automatic from the left circle, Pastrnak racked up 15 goals and 29 total points on the power play — while also being out on the ice for an absurd 44.2 percent of Boston’s total 5v5 goals tallied all season.

Without their cheat code stationed at right wing, it seemed like a given that Boston’s offensive woes were only going to be compounded with Pastrnak on the mend.

But, hockey, amirite?

Even without No. 88. Boston hasn’t lost a step in the offensive zone in the two weeks since Pastrnak went on the shelf. In fact, the B’s have managed to improve at a rate of nearly a goal per game more than their regular scoring output — with Boston averaging 3.66 goals over six games without Pastrnak, a stretch that has also seen Boston post a 5-0-1 record.

It hasn’t been one single contributor that has lifted the Bruins up to 15th in the league in scoring (2.95 GF/G), but rather a number of factors that have allowed Boston’s offense to click even without its most dynamic forward.

Here are five ways in which Boston has managed to keep its scoring afloat without No. 88 in the lineup.



1. Better decision making from blue line paying dividends

While more skaters pulling their weight up front has allowed Boston to offset some of the scoring production lost with Pastrnak’s absence, perhaps the most welcome contribution has come from the blue line — with four goals and 13 total points coming from defensemen.

It’s not much of a surprise to see a guy like Torey Krug (one goal, three assists over six games) contribute up in the offensive zone, but Charlie McAvoy has really started to turn a corner this month after the first half of his sophomore season was railroaded due to a concussion and foot infection.

Over his last eight games, McAvoy has continued to log heavy minutes at over 22:30 TOI — but his willingness to jump up into the play has also paid dividends, with the 21-year-old skater tallying three goals and posting six total points during that stretch.

Knowing when and when not to activate is a part of McAvoy’s game that he’ll continue to sharpen with more reps up in the NHL, but the young blueliner has gambled correctly more times than not as of late, as evidenced by his give-and-go sequence with Jake DeBrusk that handed Boston a pair of points against the Kings.



Add in his usual stellar play when it comes to carrying the puck through the neutral zone (as evidenced below on the sequence leading up to Brad Marchand’s one-time tally against Vegas) and a willingness to put more pucks on net (six games with three or more SOG in last 16 appearances), and McAvoy is molding more and more into an essential gear in Boston’s offensive arsenal.



“You obviously don't replace a guy like Pasta with his scoring ability,” McAvoy said. “I think you just fill it by committee and I think everyone is doing that. Just trying to be opportunistic with our chances and fortunate to see some of these go in."

Another name that is starting to pop up more and more in the offensive zone is Brandon Carlo, who finished Boston’s road trip with a pair of helpers to nearly double his current scoring totals on the year.

The 6-foot-5, stay-at-home defenseman may not be Erik Karlsson running the point out there, but Carlo’s willingness to put more pucks on net (career-high 1.37 SOG per game this season) is leading to more quality looks down low — with five of his 73 shots on goal generating rebounds, including a ricochet that allowed Chris Wagner to bury a puck past Martin Jones on Monday against San Jose.



"I think the coaches push it upon us to make ourselves available, present ourselves,” Carlo said. "I feel like throughout this year I've been getting up in the play a little bit more and getting more shots on net. As a result, the past couple games I've been fortunate enough to get a couple assists, but before that, I still feel like I was growing that aspect of my game and I've been doing that throughout this year.”

2. Heinen keeping things simple

After tallying a goal and adding two helpers in Boston’s first game without Pastrnak, you could make the argument that Heinen has cooled off a bit since getting a promotion to Boston’s top line alongside Bergeron and Brad Marchand — adding just two assists during the B’s five-game road trip.

However, the results have been there for the line as a whole, with Boston holding an 8-1 edge in goals and a plus-18 shot differential since Heinen earned his promotion on Feb. 6. Heinen hasn’t been asked to do too much up on that line over the past month, with Bruce Cassidy emphasizing the need for him to recover pucks and provide a net-front presence when need be. Bergeron and Marchand haven’t lost much of a step as a result, with the duo tallying 11 points since Pastrnak was sidelined.

Even on plays in which he did not land on the scoresheet, Heinen has directly led to goals just by playing a simple game down low — such as the sequence below, where he pushed aside Dustin Brown off of a faceoff, opening up a shooting lane for Marchand to wrist one home.



"I think he has the IQ to certainly play with those guys,” Cassidy said of Heinen. “They play fast and they hit holes, they move the puck, they one-touch it around. I don't think that will be a problem for Danton. I think the hardest challenge for him was to be the strength on the puck. They hold pucks, they rely on absorbing partial hits and then separating. And that's where ... was he going to be strong enough to do that?

"And at times, he is, at times, he's still learning. Just like Pasta was when he was younger, but he's got so much stronger.  That's the area for him that will be the biggest challenge, because they're a down low, cycle line. They can certainly score off the rush, but they're very dangerous when they can move in the o-zone and get people out of position. So far, he's managed it well.”

3. Jake DeBrusk setting up in his office

If you’re looking for perhaps the one single player that has allowed Boston to stay afloat during Pastrnak’s injury, it might as well be No. 74 — with DeBrusk snapping out of a 13-game goalless skid with one of the hottest stretches of his career.

In six games without Pastrnak in the lineup, Boston has received five goals and 10 total points from DeBrusk — who, despite whispers from some as being in a sophomore slump — is now on pace for a 27-goal campaign in his second year in the NHL.

Sometimes when you’re hot, the goals just seem to find you — as seen during DeBrusk’s spin around snap shot past Marc-Andre Fleury in Vegas — but as a whole, when DeBrusk is going well, he’s usually camped out in one spot.



While DeBrusk has used his wheels to generate some quick strikes from the slot, going back to basics allowed him to snap his extended scoring drought — lighting the lamp off of a simple tip-in off a Krejci feed against the Blackhawks.



When you compare his season-long shot chart to the chart during his month-long stretch without goal, one thing becomes abundantly clear — keep DeBrusk in the low slot, and the results will follow.



"Jay (Pandolfo) works with him on that a lot,” Cassidy said of DeBrusk’s work down low, especially on the power play. …. We also like the fact that he's quick in there. I like a net-front guy that can retrieve pucks, some teams prefer the bigger larger body. Different strokes for different folks. We started with Marchand there. When I ran the power play a couple of years ago, took a quicker guy.

“Rick Nash, when he was there, he was a bit of both. Long enough reach and he's a big body. That'd be ideal but that's kind of the way we've done it and ask Jake to contribute those things. Recover pucks from the shots from the bumper, screen the goalie when it's appropriate and have your stick ready for those tip-ins and that's the last part.”

4. Seeing double?

Boston had to regress in some area of its offensive game, and so far, it has been on the power play ...... but not by an awful lot at all, with the B’s still cashing in on 26.3 percent of their chances on the man advantage, down just 0.1 percent from where it was with Pastrnak on the top unit. So, in other terms, the power play is still really darn good.

A key reason in Boston’s ability to not miss a step has been the play of Krejci up on that top group, with the center filling in up along the blue line and recording a point on three of Boston’s five power-play strikes since Pastrnak has been out.

He may be more of a distributor than a shooter, but Krejci has looked awfully effective when camped out in Pastrnak’s usual spot at the left circle, no?

Krejci PP Goal vs. Chicago - 2/12



Pastrnak PP Goal vs. Flyers - 1/31



5. Wagner’s making his attempts count



Ah yes, the minimalist shot chart. Wagner is continuing to look more and more like an offseason steal for the Bruins, with the Walpole native already past his career high in goals with nine tallies on the season while anchoring an impressive fourth line. Wagner was one of the offensive catalysts on this road trip — firing home three goals on an absurd seven shots on net.

Now, one of those was a gimmie with an empty-net score against Anaheim, and I don’t know what exactly was going on with St. Louis’ defensive structure on Saturday leading up to another goal for No. 14, but Wagner is making the most of his opportunities — and is providing a scoring punch to a bottom-six that desperately needs it.

Based on the play of the Coyle line on Saturday (plus-7 attempt differential, plus-5 shot differential, three high-danger chances generated), more help may soon be on the way.

All stats courtesy of @ChartingHockey & Natural Stat Trick.