For David Krejci and his slumping line, ‘talk is cheap’ ahead of pivotal Game 5

Bruce Cassidy is going to have a couple of lineup decisions to make ahead of a Game 5 bout against the Blues in the Stanley Cup Final.

Until further testing can be completed, the Bruins very well could be without their captain in Zdeno Chara — who was unable to play in the second half of Monday’s Game 4 loss after taking a deflected puck to the mouth.

While he’s “better than where he was” after taking a dangerous hit in Game 2 and entering into the concussion protocol, Matt Grzelcyk’s status for Thursday’s matchup at TD Garden is also up in the air — forcing the Bruins to weigh contingency plans such as rolling out seven defensemen and slotting a 20-year-old rookie like Urho Vaakanainen into the lineup.

There might be plenty of fires to put out on the blue line over the next couple of days, but what about up front for Boston? For now, shuffling up forward trios or scratching a skater seems like a last resort for Cassidy — given the more pressing needs on the roster.

“Forwards, I think we can manage,” he said, adding: “I've changed lines all year to try to get guys going. The problem with that this time of year is you're so far down the line, the other lines have their chemistry, especially our bottom two lines. We used to pull guys, throw them a little carrot, some extra minutes, some extra responsibility.”

Still, on a night in which Boston’s D corps was taxed for the second time in three games with just five skaters at its disposal, the void created by Boston’s top-six forwards was even more evident — especially with the Bruins’ second line of David Krejci, Jake DeBrusk and David Backes.



Limited to zero shots on goal or individual scoring chances, Krejci was just part of the problem for a line that, as constituted, has generated three 5v5 goals in 87:25 of 5v5 TOI together during the playoffs — not the level of production you want to see from a top-six trio, especially with 79.73% of that crew’s faceoffs coming in the offensive zone.

By the end of Monday’s 4-2 defeat, the Krejci line failed to generate a single high-danger scoring chance in 7:09 of 5v5 TOI together. Not good enough — especially with just one knockout punch needed to put the Blues in a 3-1 hole going back to Boston.

“I think we’ve talked a lot about the defense here. Personally, I think our forwards have to do a way better job with our D out,” Cassidy said. “The onus has to go on them. They have to pull their weight in terms of puck supported and helping out the D, finishing some plays. We had some lines tonight with very few shots attempts. To rely on a 2-1 game, we can win those games. But they’re going to have to pull their weight, especially if these guys are out. that’s just the way it is. That’s the hand we’re dealt.”

While Backes has often been singled out as the odd man out when it comes to some lineup shuffling, the veteran has been far from the lone culprit when it comes to the up-and-down results generated by the Krejci line this postseason.

Regardless of who has slotted in on their line, Krejci and DeBrusk have been largely inseparable at 5v5 play, logging 229:04 of ice time together during Boston’s run to the Stanley Cup Final. During that stretch, the Bruins have managed to tally seven goals — while also relinquishing seven down the other end of the sheet.

Add in a top line anchored by Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand that has only been out on the ice for eight 5v5 goals in 242 minutes of TOI together (to go along with six goals against), and you have a Bruins offense powered by a historic power play and some absurd production by its bottom-six corps.

On nights in which the latter two options fail (0-for-2 on power play / 14.29 CF% by the Kuraly line), you have results as seen in Game 4.

The Bergeron line has largely been Jekyll and Hyde for most of the postseason — with the trio’s combined point totals in their last six games reading as such: 1, 8, 1, 1, 5 and 2.

During that same six-game stretch, the Krejci line has generated just four combined points — zero of which have come during 5v5 play. Something’s going to have to change.

“We got to sit down with them obviously,” Cassidy said. “They got to change the way they're playing. It hasn't worked so far to generate offense. One thing, if you generate offense night after night, doesn't go in, but we don’t see that from that line yet. We did talk about it yesterday. We're going to have to revisit it, sell some different ideas of how they can generate offense.

"Typically Krech is very receptive, but he still likes to play his way. We're going to have to be halfway on that, then go from there. Jake, I think it's pretty simple with Jake, he has to play more on the inside right now. Use his speed, get inside. That's when he starts to get going. He's that type of kid that when he scores one, he's streaky. When he gets that one, he may take off. Backes is Backes. He's a complementary guy on that line. His game is not going to change a lot. I think the other two, we have to find a way to get them back feeling good about their game.”

Krejci echoed Cassidy’s sentiments when it came to his thoughts on the performance of his line during this crucial stretch — one that’s about to be even more dire if Boston is forced to roll out a D corps without its captain going forward.

“I don't think we worked as a unit together,” Krejci said. “I wasn't really happy about the way we played last game. We need to talk about it, keep talking about it. Talk is cheap at this time of the year, so… We just got to look at ourselves in the mirrors and do the things that we talk about doing.”

Talk is indeed cheap at this point of the season. And the Krejci line is running out of time to right the ship.