Four games might still separate the Bruins from playoff hockey — but don't expect Bruce Cassidy and Co. to simply go through the motions over the final week of the 2021 regular season. While we already have a pretty concrete idea of what to expect from some of the B's lineup once the postseason gets underway, there are still plenty of things left on Boston's to-do list before they are ready to turn the page on this 56-game campaign and brace themselves for another run at the Cup. Here is a look at what's left on Boston's docket during the final stretch of the regular season.
Setting aside time to rest key cogs in lineup
Boston has been on a tear since the trade deadline (10-2-1), but all it takes is an errant puck, late hit or other miscue to sap any momentum the B's might be carrying into the playoffs by way of injuries.
Granted, Boston is no stranger to the injury bug — with the Original Six franchise entering Thursday's game against the Rangers with an absurd 243 man-games lost to injury already this year.
But it'd be a particularly tough pill to swallow if Boston ends up losing more players over these four games that — while holding some sway over playoff positioning in the East Division — don't hold much significance in the grand scheme of things.
Unfortunately, losing players to injury on the cusp of playoff hockey has been a familiar trend with Boston over the years.
Brandon Carlo was denied his chance to play in the postseason during each of his first two seasons in the NHL due to season-ending injuries — suffering a concussion off of a hit from Alex Ovechkin in Boston's regular-season finale in April 2017 before breaking his ankle in the B's second-to-last week of the 2017-18 season.
The following year, Kevan Miller crashed into the boards during Boston's penultimate game of the season — knocking the rugged blueliner out for the remainder of the season and setting him down a painful path headlined by two kneecap fractures and four surgeries in less than a year.
And while, currently, Ondrej Kase remains as the lone Bruin that's still without a set timeline to return to game action, Tuesday's OT loss down in New Jersey — a largely meaningless game after the B's clinched a playoff berth on Monday — featured plenty of injury scares. Charlie Coyle only logged one shift in the third period after a shot from Carlo struck the B's third-line winger up high, while the club's season flashed before its eyes when Brad Marchand slammed hard into the boards during the second period of action.
(We expect an update on Coyle's status this morning, while Marchand finished Tuesday's game and appears to be alright).
https://twitter.com/ConorRyan_93/status/1389739126661029892
While there are some line combinations and other areas of roster that need to be evaluated over the next week in order to find the best fit come the postseason, don't be surprised if veterans like Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci, Marchand and even vital pieces like Charlie McAvoy and Matt Grzelcyk sit out a game or two down the stretch. Now, just how many guys take games off to either lick their wounds or rest and recover for the postseason might be determined by just where Boston sits in the standings by the final game or two of the regular season.
But let's face it — I don't think many Bruins fans are going to be thrilled if guys like Bergeron, Krejci and others are in that regular-season finale against Tom Wilson and the Capitals.
"We may look at it next week, Monday-Tuesday," Cassidy said. "How do we make that split? Some of that will depend on, when are we opening? Where are we opening? That's something to be determined and that will be a conversation with the players. What's at stake? What if we go into Washington and it's a first-place game? Or home advantage game? So, we do have to consider what's at stake before we make that decision. But first and foremost, it'll go to the players' health. Where are they at, how do they feel? And then we'll go from there."
Fixing a slumping power play
Well, if you want to draw some parallels between the 2011 Bruins and this current squad, they sure are generating a lot of their offense the same way — burying chances left and right during even-strength action, with power plays routinely sapping away O-zone momentum.
Scoring at 5v5 play has been a flaw on this Bruins club for years, with Boston ranking nearing the bottom of the league in 5v5 tallies and high-danger scoring chances in the days leading up to April's trade deadline. But be it Taylor Hall's addition to that second line, more playmaking and offense generated from the blue line or other units falling into place, the B's have been on a tear lately, outscoring opponents by a 37-15 margin during 5v5 action since the deadline.
But the man advantage — which has routinely served as Boston's most-trusted offensive conduit outside of its top line for the last few seasons — hasn't found such success, especially a proven top unit featuring the likes of Bergeron, Marchand, David Pastrnak, Grzelcyk and Nick Ritchie. Since April 8, the Bruins have only scored six power-play goals, and five of those have come from players on the second unit in Craig Smith (four tallies) and David Krejci (one).
Tuesday at least stood as a step in the right direction after Bergeron finally found twine on the power play, but Boston is hoping to see its big guns up front gain some more traction before the regular season wraps, with Pastrnak in particular (0 power-play tallies in his last 24 games) needing to start cashing in on the one-timer bids he'd routinely rifle home in years past.
Be it Boston's deadline pickups or guys like Ritchie and Sean Kuraly elevating their game down the stretch here, Boston's offense is already looking awfully impressive these days at 5v5 play. If this power play can get humming again, opposing defenses are in for a world of hurt.
Figuring out rotation in net
In a perfect situation, the Bruins won't have to fret all that much about their goalie corps once the Stanley Cup Playoffs commence, because (barring catastrophe) it's going to be Tuukka Rask's net over the next few months.
But with four games upcoming against the Rangers, Islanders and Capitals, Boston still needs to sort through its goalie rotation over the final week of the regular season — and carve out who is going to take the No. 2 spot behind Rask on the depth chart.
"It won't be the back-to-back, we won't put him in that," Cassidy said of which games Rask will start moving forward. "We haven't put him in that position all year going into playoffs, so probably wouldn't be in the Washington game. After that we'll sort out who gets what game. ... We know that Tuukka's on his game and we know that (Jeremy) Swayman has played well for us as well. A little bit will depend on Jaro. But you can plan on, after tonight, Tuukka getting two of the last four. And then we'll see where Swayman and Jaro fit in after that."
While Halak smashing his stick to smithereens and punting a stool as he exited the ice following Tuesday's OT loss to the Devils was certainly entertaining — it sure seemed like the reaction of a veteran who knows he failed to seize one of his last few chances of retaining his backup role.
https://twitter.com/ConorRyan_93/status/1389760652135309312
All in all, it's a tough break for Halak, who was far from a liability in net this season, and saw his backup spot get seized by a red-hot rookie in Swayman while he was stuck on the COVID-19 Protocol list for close to two weeks. Still, it's tough to argue with Swayman's play so far this season, with the 22-year-old netminder posting a .942 save percentage this year — including a sterling .900 save percentage on high-danger shots. The likely route for Cassidy is for Halak and Swayman to start the two games that Rask will sit out down the stretch. But barring a complete implosion from Swayman, it sure seems like the No. 2 spot is his to lose.
Sorting out D corps
As we noted in our breakdown of Boston's D corps from earlier this week, it sure seems like we know the six regulars that are going to be featured on Boston's blue line in the playoffs: Charlie McAvoy, Brandon Carlo, Matt Grzelcyk, Kevan Miller, Mike Reilly and Jeremy Lauzon.
But where those six are sorted out across Boston's three D pairings is still a work in progress — namely, which puck-moving skater earns second-pairing reps next to Carlo.
"Who is Brandon's best partner — how does the six guys best work together because Reilly has not played with those guys," Cassidy said. "He's played with (Connor) Clifton, played well, he's played with Millsy, (Steven) Kampfer — he's done a good job with whoever he's played with but let's see how that plays out."
Even though a top pairing of Grzelcyk-McAvoy has been dominant together, it seems like a given at this point that Lauzon will skate next to McAvoy — rather than slot him down next to Miller on a third pairing that hasn't found much success together. So, then, it becomes a matter of Grzelcyk/Reilly next to Carlo.
Prior to his injury, a pairing featuring Carlo next to Grzelcyk was pretty impressive as a shutdown duo, with Boston leading in scoring chances (39-27) and goals scored (5-3) during their time out on the ice — despite having just 44.68% of their faceoffs set in the offensive zone. But in his return to action on Tuesday, Carlo saw plenty of minutes next to both Reilly (8:43) and Grzelcyk (7:28).
You really can't go wrong with either puck-moving option, but look for Boston to try to nail down a set spot for both Grzelcyk and Reilly before the playoffs get underway.
Find right pieces on fourth line
A top-six unit? Check, at long last.
A third line? It might vary depending on Coyle's health, but there's an awful lot to like about a heavy, puck-possession unit featuring the Weymouth native, Sean Kuraly and Nick Ritchie.
As for a fourth line that might be taking on more of a north-south, quick-moving identity with that third line rolling out bigger bodies? Well, it seems like a lock that Curtis Lazar will be penciled in at the pivot spot. But who slots in next to him remains to be seen. Ultimately, Boston could tweak this lineup depending on matchups, rolling out thumpers like Chris Wagner and Trent Frederic for more imposing opponents, while a speedster like Karson Kuhlman could be utilized against a smaller foe like the Penguins.
But the biggest question mark might be Jake DeBrusk — with the winger mired in a lost season and looking to carve out some semblance of a role in the bottom-six. On paper, a guy like DeBrusk holds plenty of appeal on a fourth-line spot, giving that unit potentially more scoring punch while forcing the slumping forward to simplify his game with a checking unit. At this point, with Hall taking his spot at 2LW and Ritchie settling in at 3LW, Boston's best bet might be to keep DeBrusk at 4LW and hope he finds his game on his strong side.
"Jake's been on a lot of lines — he's been given an opportunity with almost every center-iceman here," Cassidy said. "I mean, don't forget he was in with Bergy and Marsh — they play pretty straight-line, so it falls on him to play the game that's in front of him. I've said it before — to me it's a second-effort league. If he's willing to do that, he'll have success in this league."
