After a second straight road loss where the Boston Bruins could scratch for just one measly goal, it’s readily apparent once again that finishing off offensive plays is the No. 1 issue for this offensively constipated hockey team this season.
Part of that is the B’s are essentially playing the first half of this season while short a top-6 forward after not adequately replacing Jake DeBrusk when he departed for Vancouver in free agency, and that is something that could/should be addressed at the trade deadline with a deal for a player like Tyler Toffoli, Frank Vatrano or another gun-for-hire goal scorer.
But the other major component of Boston’s current offensive challenges is David Pastrnak simply not living up to what he’s been for the last decade.
A bit down season for David Pastrnak so far. Which is crazy when he's still (almost) point-per-game player. But yeah, we know his standards... https://t.co/qG6iluy9HE pic.twitter.com/2iNQg3zklx
— Rono (@RonoAnalyst) December 30, 2024
Pastrnak has been kept off the goal-scoring ledger in each of the last two games and just registered a single point in Boston’s 2-1 loss to the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night. The usually productive right winger still leads the Black and Gold with 38 points in 40 games, so that’s notable in that he’s still on pace for a solid 78-point campaign for the season.
But he’s second on the team in goals with 13 goals in those very same 40 games and that basically slots him into a pace for 27 goals for the season. That would be underwhelming by Pastrnak’s usual standards and would be the 28-year-old’s lowest goal-scoring output over a full season in a decade dating back to when he scored 15 goals in 51 games as a 19-year-old kid still finding his way.
Since then, his only season below 30 goals on his NHL resume was the COVID-shortened 2020-21 campaign when Pastrnak popped 20 goals and 48 points in 48 games. The severe downturn in Pastrnak’s scoring abilities this season has clearly impacted the B’s offense and has done serious damage to their top power play unit’s dangerousness factor.
Couple that with an uptick in the penalties that he’s taking and him being a minus player this season, and there are clearly some issues going on with Boston’s best player.
At times Pastrnak has been effective this season, but it’s been much more as a playmaker for fellow Czech Pavel Zacha than it’s been about him taking over and dominating games as he’s always been able to do in the past. Is Pastrnak playing through something as it seemed like when he pulled himself out of the final regular season game prior to the Christmas break, and as it has seemed in glimpses over the course of this season’s first half?
Nobody is saying if he is playing through some kind of injury, but the numbers are absolutely telling us that something is up with him.
After averaging close to five shots on net per game over the last few seasons while putting up unprecedented offensive numbers, Pastrnak is almost below four shots on net per game this season with 163 shots on net in 40 games. So No. 88 is shooting the puck less than in recent seasons where he’s been an offensive powerhouse, and that’s a problem since the B’s are a better team when Pastrnak is shooting more.
That goes doubly so for a Bruins power play that uses him as its one-time blasting focal point on both units. Pastrnak is on pace for eight PP goals this season, which would be his lowest full-season output in 10 years as well.
The Pastrnak downturn has forced the Bruins into loading up on their forward lines at times to try and spark their game-breaking force, and that was the case on Thursday night when Joe Sacco put Brad Marchand, Elias Lindholm and Pastrnak together while looking for an offensive spark.
They got one with Pastrnak feeding Lindholm for Boston’s only goal of the game in the second period, but they couldn’t get another despite that line totaling up 20 shot attempts for the game.
That’s a slick feed from David Pastrnak. pic.twitter.com/G4ZLU4OZga
— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) January 3, 2025
“They generated some chances tonight,” said Sacco of Marchand, Lindholm and Pastrnak working together as they moved Charlie Coyle back to the middle as they needed better center play on other lines. “They had some zone time. I thought they had some good looks. It’s frustrating. Obviously, we’re not scoring right now at the level we want to be.
“[It’s] not from lack of opportunities. We’re just not finishing right now.”
The Bruins rank 27th in the NHL in offense and their top PP unit has fizzled over the last couple of months, as they were even outperformed by Justin Brazeau and the second power play unit during the month of December. Once again, a lot of that underwhelming offensive output tracks back to No. 88, who needs to step up the scoring and shooting the puck if they want to start becoming a dangerous hockey team again.
“We could have had way more than one goal,” admitted Pastrnak. “I thought we had the chances. It was a good switch. Obviously, we weren’t going as well offensively the last couple of games.
“Scored only one goal each. I think both lines had good chances. Goalie played well too today.”
That was the other part of the equation, for sure. Jonathan Quick had a turn-back-the-clock performance in between the pipes for the Blueshirts after it was announced that Igor Shesterkin would miss time with an upper-body injury.
Quick was dazzling with an athletic 31 saves that included a number of sequences where he made multiple saves on the Bruins and held them to just one goal. Jeremy Swayman was watching with awe at the other end of the ice even as he too was pretty solid between the pipes for the Black and Gold aside from one error not clearing a puck hard enough that led to New York’s first goal.
Jonathan Quick. pic.twitter.com/XCSU4h1EO1
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) January 3, 2025
“Pretty cool moment to see vintage Quickie,” said Swayman. “He’s a guy that’s had success in his this league because of the work he’s put in and the kind of human being he is. That’s someone I want to be when I grow up. I think he was well deserving of tonight’s win. Good for him. I love watching him play.”
Certainly, Bruins fans don’t love it as the former UMass goalie has traditionally always played well against the Black and Gold over the years.
But for the Bruins, there are much bigger worries than a goaltender that’s always been a thorn in their side as their offensive woes go well beyond a simple hot netminder. The Bruins have some goal-finishing issues that involve their biggest goal scorer and a special teams unit that is vital to their success these days, and things won’t be truly back to normal for the Black and Gold until those things get resolved whether it’s now, or at some point down the regular season road.