The Bruins’ depth chart is already trudging through a war of attrition - at a pretty awful time

WASHINGTON, DC — The damage report released in the immediate aftermath of a Stanley Cup run often bears more resemblance to a 10-car pileup than a stretch of pro sporting events.

Injuries are a part of the job description in this sport — where stepping in front of a screaming volley of vulcanized rubber is as second nature as remembering to tie your shoes before heading out the door for work.  

But when players finally rattle off their extensive lists of bumps and bruises on their final day of meeting with the media, the candidness at which they rifle through their Rolodex of ailments will never not take you aback. 

Broken bones are often a given. Searing muscle tears are in need of repairs. During the 2018-19 Cup run, Noel Acciari labored on with a broken sternum — suffered during a second-round bout with Columbus. John Moore logged 10 postseason bouts that summer while hampered by a torn shoulder and a broken humerus. The toll put on Patrice Bergeron’s body during that 2013 Cup run has been well-documented.

But through it all, there’s never an ounce of regret or second-guessing offered by a player when asked about the merit of stepping into a slapshot or embracing the mutually-assured destruction that comes with colliding with an opposing skater near the end boards. 

After all, if those crunching hits are handed out during a team’s push through the gauntlet that is the Stanley Cup Playoffs, it’s a sacrifice made in pursuit of a greater end result. 

The 2021-22 Bruins are already starting to resemble some of those battered rosters from years past.

David Pastrnak, often an iron horse when it comes to his conditioning and ability to battle through nagging injuries, has missed three straight games due to what seems like a sustained core issue. Hampus Lindholm, Boston’s shiny new post-deadline pickup, has been out of commission after appearing to tweak something in his knee on Tuesday in Detroit. 

And on Sunday, Matt Grzelcyk joined the growing list of banged B’s skaters — logging just 3:11 of action before being leaving the game with what appeared to be a shoulder issue. 

In the span of just over a week, the Bruins have already felt the all-too-familiar sting of the injury bug — an expected consequence of hockey held in April. 

The only difference this year, of course, is that hockey in April holds little significance other than tune-ups and seeding discourse. The Stanley Cup Playoffs don’t begin this season until May 2, and the Bruins are already feeling the sting of what is looking like a decimated roster just weeks away from playoff action.

Granted, Cassidy noted ahead of Sunday’s eventual 4-2 loss to the Capitals that both Pastrnak and Lindhom’s injury circumstances could have been different had Boston been embroiled in a playoff bout.

“I don't know if they're that far away,” Cassidy said of Pastrnak and Lindholm. “I don't know if they'd be able to play if it was the playoffs — because I was told they're out. So I didn't ask that question. My guess is yes. But we're not protecting them. If they gave us the green light, they'd obviously be in there. It's an important game and we've still got a lot to play for.”

Their absences were certainly felt against Washington — namely Pastrnak, whose deadly one-timer could have come in handy during a sordid Boston power-play performance that ended with another goose egg over four tries.

In total, Boston closed out its four-game road trip (three of which without Pastrnak) in an 0-for-16 rut on the power play.

"Lack of execution — I've seen it for a while now," Cassidy said of Boston's power-play woes. "With Pasta in the lineup, without him. Bergy in or out.  We don't execute well enough right now to expect to (score), and by that, I mean the quickness, the pace of your execution, hitting the net when you do get your opportunity.  ... And then I think there's a little bit of stubbornness on the entries, like the 6-on-5, one guy trying to go through, instead of going through as a group or playing behind them and go and get it the old fashioned way. So we've had some issues there.”

Given the personnel Boston boasts on its man advantage, it’s fair to assume that the B’s will sort out the issues that have negated one of their tried-and-true strengths in the offensive zone.

But as far as personnel is concerned, things look pretty bleak if we fixate our attention on the left side of Boston’s defense — especially given Lindholm’s health and Grzelcyk’s murky status moving forward. 

"Obviously missed his puck-moving back there,” Cassidy said of Grzelcyk. “It was a big factor in the game — our inability to transition very well. I think it cost us in the end.”

Boston’s identity is anchored by its stingy defensive structure. But for as stout as this six-man unit can often be, things can also unravel in a hurry when some engines start to sputter.

Sunday’s loss at Capital One Arena offered an ominous look at how another promising Cup run could fall apart for Boston in the coming months — with the remnants of Boston’s defense unable to pull on the rope when top-four stalwarts like Grzelcyk and Lindholm are unavailable.

After Mike Reilly drew the ire of his bench boss last week for his sub-standard play, Derek Forbort did little to assuage the team’s concerns about the lower depths of this blue line.

The Caps feasted on Forbort all afternoon, with the 30-year-old veteran playing a hand in all three of Washington’s 5v5 tallies. The Bruins aren’t looking for Forbort to re-invent the wheel with his game. On the contrary, Forbort’s vanilla, stay-at-home defending is what made him an appealing free-agent target for them this past summer.

But if Forbort is going to continue to get pushed around in the crease (as he did shortly after Tom Wilson buried his 23rd goal of the season) or fail to absorb a slap shot from John Carlson — then the Bruins are going to be in deep trouble once the postseason rolls around.

“The focus will be on puck management — like this type of game, through two periods, their best chances started with the puck on our stick," Cassidy said. "And even their last goal, we won the draw. I mean — these are good hockey teams you're playing.

“You can't mismanage pucks and expect to get away with it all night and that's usually the bane of our ... it's what ends up turning the game against us a lot of times. I think our structure is good, I think our players' willingness to play the structure, block shots, kill penalties, all the little things. It's just puck management and making high-percentage plays is when we're good versus when we're chasing the game a little bit.”

Boston’s latest spell with injuries is by no means a season-ending development. This isn’t, say, 2018 — when Brandon Carlo broke his leg just days ahead of the postseason — or 2019, when Kevan Miller shattered his kneecap in Boston’s penultimate regular-season tuneup.

Boston still has a bit of runaway in order to rest key cogs like Pastrnak, Lindholm and hopefully Grzelcyk. But with a playoff berth all but locked up and still 10 more games to go before this marathon regular season finally ends, Cassidy and the Bruins will be holding out hope they don’t have to etch any more names into their damage report during this arduous sprint ... to the starting line of playoff hockey.