Ryan: For the first time in a long time, the Bruins have a lethal top-six unit

The narrative hasn't changed for the Bruins over their last few fruitful — but ultimately unfulfilled — Stanley Cup campaigns. 

In each of their previous three seasons, the Bruins have comfortably punched their ticket to the postseason and routinely hovered near the top of the Eastern Conference standings due in large part to some of the hallmarks of the franchise — a stingy defensive structure, great goaltending, a lethal power play and, yes — the 5v5 buzzsaw that is that top forward line of Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak. 

And while that top triumvirate has keyed many sustained playoff pushes deep into May and June — each of these last few promising runs were all felled by the same Achilles' Heel that has plagued this club since 2014.

The Bergeron line can do it all on any given night — score, push the puck in transition, shut down an opposing top-six unit and much more.

But they can't be expected to LITERALLY do it ALL 16 times during a playoff run, at least not without some help along the way.

Be it a promising run cut short in 2018 by the Lightning, a COVID-impacted campaign dashed by those same Bolts up in the Toronto bubble in 2020, or the sad fate dealt to Boston by the Blues as a Cup slipped through their grasp in June 2019 — each result was marked by the same flaw.

When the Bergeron line was either contained, banged-up or simply outgunned, Boston simply didn't have enough supplemental scoring to stay in the fight when the going got tough — and a lot of those woes can be directed to a second line that simply hasn't been equipped with the necessary firepower in half a decade.

Be it Presidents' Trophy campaign in 2014 with Jarome Iginla in tow or those runs in 2011-13 that resulted in two trips to the Cup Final (including taking home said hardware in 2011), the Bruins have thrived when gifted with two potent trios in their top-six — with Bergeron serving as the two-way maestro and David Krejci the offensive conduit that could tilt a period, game or series back in Boston's favor with just a single shift down the other end of the ice.

But since Iginla departed and Boston retooled on the fly from 2014-16, Krejci hasn't exactly had the most imposing supporting cast — at least not when compared to the likes of Iginla, Milan Lucic and Nathan Horton.

In 2018, Krejci had a rookie to his left in Jake DeBrusk and an injured Rick Nash to his right in that second-round defeat against Tampa. The following year, Krejci managed to still surpass 70 points despite having a carousel of wingers to his right, including rookie Karson Kuhlman during a do-or-die Game 7 against St. Louis. And last year, it was another potpourri of wingers up in the bubble — featuring DeBrusk, Nick Ritchie and Ondrej Kase. 

And even if Boston managed to punch its ticket to the playoffs once again in 2021 without making any additions at the deadline, there was little hope for optimism that Krejci was going to be able to replicate his golden years as an O-zone maestro come the postseason with the band assembled around him.

Well, at least that was the expectation just a few weeks ago. Oh, what the difference a deadline can make.



For the first time in a long time, Bruce Cassidy and the Bruins now have the luxury of rolling out two game-changing forward trios — with Taylor Hall's arrival and Craig Smith's strong play giving Krejci new life on Boston's second line.

Tuesday's 3-1 win over the Penguins was Exhibit A of just how much two potent lines can tilt the ice in one's favor.

For most of the contest, the Penguins simply didn't have an answer for whatever Cassidy deployed against them — and that's because, for most of the night, both the Bergeron and Krejci lines were running circles around them in the offensive zone.

In total, during the 24:55 of 5v5 ice time in which both the Bergeron and Krejci lines were out on the ice, Boston led in ...

Shot attempts: 35-9
Shots on goal: 20-5
Scoring chances: 18-4
High-danger scoring chances: 7-1

... while all three goals came off the sticks of Krejci, Marchand and Hall.

Bergeron and Co. were as advertised, holding an 84.00% shot share out on the ice as the B's top line, while perhaps most importantly shutting down Sidney Crosby down the other end of the sheet — with Boston holding a 9-2 edge in shots on goal and 5-0 advantage in high-danger scoring chances during the 6:37 of 5v5 ice time in which both top-line pivots were matched up.

And the Krejci line did plenty of the heavy lifting in the O-zone — with Hall's highlight-reel tally in the third period serving as the emphatic stamp on the night in which Boston's top stars ran the Penguins out of their own building.

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For as much as Hall preached patience upon his arrival to Boston as he looked to build back up his confidence following a nuclear winter in Buffalo, Don Sweeney's low-risk gamble to bring the perceived purveyor of "losing hockey" aboard has exceeded expectations — with Hall now up to four goals and seven points in nine games with Boston, with plenty of high-effort highlights such as timely backchecks influencing games far beyond what could be referenced on a box score.

"Typically, for me, confidence — when you can actually see it — is body language," Cassidy said of Hall adjusting to his new team. "Second effort sometimes. And I haven't seen any bad body language. ... he's been good. I don't think he's an overly vocal guy. So not going to judge him on being quiet on the bench, especially when you come to a new group. ... I don't see him coming to the bench with his head slumped down or talking to himself or whatever — any of those signs that sometimes you got to grab a guy and say, 'Hey, just stick with it' or whatever the case may be.

"He should be confident. ... He's helped us win with different types of plays. He blocked a shot the other night, late defensive play in the first game, I thought was excellent. That led to a good transition goal coming back the other way, so different parts of the game he's helped us with and obviously the goals are what he gets measured by and what he's done, first and foremost in his career, is create offense. So I see a guy that looks like he's comfortable with his game and maybe the change of scenery and winning is probably the biggest reason why."

But Tuesday's win was not just a flash in the pan or just a potential sign of things to come for Boston's top-six unit. No, ever since the deadline, this group has been pantsing the competition night in and night out — with Boston's top-two lines outscoring opponents 16-2 and outshooting them by an absurd 133-70 margin since the B's pulled the trigger on those deadline moves.

That's enough of a sample size to be pretty excited about what's to come for this team come the postseason now that those two lines are settled — and there's still plenty of room for improvement, namely in the form of David Pastrnak, who has accrued just two goals in his last 14 games.

Of course, the Krejci line's ascension as a top-flight offensive juggernaut after years of dormancy — and the Bergeron line's continued strong play — will not guarantee a parade of Duck Boats down Causeway Street. The return of Boston's potent top-six unit can't be undercut by slippage in other areas of their game such as on the man advantage, in net and on a bottom-six grouping that still needs to find some traction amid a mass of moving pieces.

But after years and years of promising seasons dashed by a top-heavy Bruins offense toppling down under the weight that Bergeron, Marchand and Pastrnak have had shoulder, there is, at long last, a sliver of hope.

Hope for some much-needed reinforcements helping to carry that scoring burden this postseason. And hope, of course, for a much different result from years past.