The Boston Bruins went 4-0 this week (unbeaten in their last five games) to cap off an 8-1 run since the team resumed play in January after a coronavirus-imposed break. The Nashville Predators were the latest victim of the B’s balanced scoring attack, falling 4-3 in overtime Saturday, on Taylor Hall’s goal early in the extra frame, assisted by David Pastrnak.
Since head coach Bruce Cassidy moved the latter off of the top line to the second unit with Hall and center Erik Haula, Boston has been scoring every which way: even strength, man advantage and shorthanded. Brad Marchand has been white-hot during the recent stretch of games, and to top it off, Tuukka Rask made a successful return to the lineup with a strong performance in a win against Philadelphia Thursday.
Things have been coming up roses in 2022. We’ll take a closer look at the balanced scoring, goaltending and a rookie defenseman in Urho Vaakanainen as the latest struggling prospect who has turned things around and opened eyes in Boston by stepping up when the team needed him to.
Balanced scoring has been the catalyst
In mid-December, the vultures were circling and things looked dire for the Bruins.
The team had lost badly at home to the Vegas Golden Knights and the offense was dormant two nights later in a road defeat at the hands of the sagging New York Islanders. Then came the COVID outbreak and a 16-day reset, that afforded Cassidy, his staff and the players to break things down and have a reset of sorts in the middle of a season going dangerously close to peril.
Upon returning to game action against the Buffalo Sabres, the coach moved Pastrnak down to the second line, Haula up to center him and Hall, and put Craig Smith up on the No. 1 unit with Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand. The results have been nothing less than stunning. The team is getting offense from the entire roster, a welcome change from recent seasons, when it seemed as if the first or second lines couldn’t break through, the B’s chances of winning were diminished because the other lines weren’t able to rise above.
Marchand and Pastrnak posted back-to-back hat tricks this week against the Montreal Canadiens and Philadelphia Flyers, that’s what the team needs from its two most lethal finishers. Marchand also posted his 20th goal of the season in the third period of the Saturday home matinee against Nashville. It marked the 11th time in his career he’d found the 20-goal plateau, and the ninth consecutive season he’s done it. By the way- he’s done it in only 30 games, on pace for the best goal totals of his career since he tallied 39 in 80 games during the 2016-17 campaign.
Pastrnak is back to looking like his old self after a summer of personal tragedy and a sluggish start. Boston’s young superstar has always brought a tremendous zest for life and the game, coupled with an intense work ethic and drive to be the best version of himself. He simply didn’t look like the No. 88 everyone knew and who captured a share of the Rocket Richard Trophy as the NHL’s best goal scorer in 2020 with Alexander Ovechkin (48 goals), but since moving down to the second line, he’s had 10 goals and is firing his patented one-timers with authority.
Hall’s OT goal is the microcosm of his resurgence as well. The former first overall selection in 2010 can create his own offense with his pure speed and strength, but while slumping in Nov. and Dec., he wasn’t doing any real creating. Now, he looks like that player who can back defenses up off the rush or go hard to the net and score dirty goals or make brilliant passes to set the table for linemates. He looks like the player who came alive a little less than a year ago, when the B’s plucked him out of Buffalo, leading to a new lease on life and an extension to remain in Boston for the next several years.
Smith, Haula and Charlie Coyle (East Weymouth, Mass.) are all chipping in to take the pressure off of the big guns. Lower-liners like Curtis Lazar, Tomas Nosek and Anton Blidh are getting it done as well.
The team is also getting secondary scoring by defensemen not named Charlie McAvoy, as evidenced by a nifty play by Mike Reilly to tally his career-high fourth goal of the season off of a patient, on-target pass from Haula.
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That kind of balance up front has done wonders for the team’s psyche and allowed the coaches to focus on the details and doing the little things to sustain it. The Bruins have beaten some good teams during their run and aside from a close loss to the Minnesota Wild, have been perfect in the new year.
Cassidy recounted an anecdote from his playing days on the Turner Cup-winning Indianapolis Ice, and his head coach who stressed three keys to success during the season in a particular order: work, win and have fun.
“He came in one day and we’d lost, and he said, ‘Don’t mess up the order,’” Cassidy said. “That’s the way it goes, that’s the way it needs to work, and he was right. I believe that translates to this group right now. They’re a hard-working group that has found their identity and they’re having fun. It’s nice combination.”
Cassidy’s coach in Indianapolis who said that? Darryl Sutter, current bench boss with the Calgary Flames, who coached the Los Angeles Kings to two Stanley Cups last decade.
For now, Cassidy and his guys are pushing the right buttons, and this club is emerging as a group that with some tweaks, could make more noise than any though possible just a month ago.
Rask and Ullmark- a formidable last line of defense
Goaltending in hockey can take you a long way, and with Rask’s return this week, the B’s have one of the best combinations in the league, with arguably the best three netminders of any team when you factor in Jeremy Swayman. Though the rookie was returned to Providence to make room for Rask and his 25-save first game back victory over Philadelphia, Swayman is the future in net, and will be back.
For now, Boston’s hopes in net rest with Rask and Linus Ullmark, the team’s biggest free agent signing of the offseason. Though it was questioned at the time, perhaps now, you can start to see the method to the madness. Although he had a shaky start in Boston, Ullmark has a 13-5 record, the most important statistic of all. His other numbers might not put him in the top-five or even top-10 of goaltenders around the NHL, but when the team has needed a big save, Ullmark makes it.
Rask’s arrival gives the team its proven No. 1 back, and the players are a different group when No. 40 mans the crease. He tested his hip with some acrobatic saves against the Flyers and came out fine.
Expect him to establish himself as the main man in net going forward, but Ullmark’s play has given the team confidence that he can bring that important timeshare that brought the best out of Rask in years when he had quality veteran partners like Anton Khudobin and Jaroslav Halak.
Ullmark’s long-term future is a tad uncertain, but the B’s have him in the fold and can keep him. Who knows how long Rask will want to keep playing, but for now, the Rask-Ullmark tandem gives the team a major 1-2 punch between the pipes.
Vaakanainen takes his shot
Just 10 days ago, Urho Vaakanainen had a lot in common with Jakub Zboril. He was a first-round pick that years after he should have made an impact in the NHL had yet to even show signs of breaking through.
Yet, when a COVID outbreak on Boston’s blue line necessitated that the 23-year-old Finn and 18th overall pick in 2017 go into the Boston lineup, he’s responded in outstanding fashion. In five games, he has four helpers and a plus-6 rating. He’s showing off his smooth mobility but is also taking pucks up the ice and making smart plays on both sides of things. He made a memorable smart chip against the Washington Capitals this week that sent Hall off to the races and a pass to Pastrnak blew the game open for Boston.
“He’s a good player, he’s just gotta understand it’s an every night business at this level,” said Cassidy. “We certainly will allow guys to make mistakes and understand their youth. We’ve done it over the years with a lot of guys who are mainstays now from (Charlie) McAvoy, (Matt) Grzelcyk, (Brandon) Carlo, (David) Pastrnak. Jake (DeBrusk)only spent one year in Providence and has worked his way through, so there’s a number of different guys who have done it, and he’ll be another one that if he can outplay his competition, then he’ll get that opportunity.”
Vaakanainen is not going to be like McAvoy, but he doesn’t need to be. He’s more of a tall, rangy, defense-first guy who can support the rush, but will gap up and keep opposing forwards to the outside.
“It’s nice to see him step in and do well,” Cassidy said. “We’re kind of at that point where you’re wondering after a few years, he’s not like a kid-kid anymore, where he’s a first-year pro. He’s seen it, time to start doing it. The opportunity arose, and some guys kick the door down, other guys gently step through it. He’s kind of in between there.”
His first NHL goal, a point shot against Montreal, was taken off the board and awarded to Lazar camped in front of the Habs' net, but if he keeps firing pucks like that, it won't be long for him.
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After struggling at times with Nashville, No. 58 stepped up with a key defensive play that led to the winning goal in overtime. That kind of poise and ability to bounce back will go a long way and make for tough decisions when the roster is healthy again. That’s what you want to see from a management perspective, because if the decision to send players back down is an easy one, then the individual isn’t very good.
To Vaakanainen’s credit, he was ready when his number was called. He's played three straight games with over 20 minutes on ice, and has now opened up a positive pathway for the team to keep him going and reap the benefits of that early selection that had been looking like it might not work out.
Like Zboril, lost for the season with a torn ACL, Vaakanainen is making the most of the opportunity he’s been given, even if it took a little longer to bear some modest fruit.
