A bad home loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs this week aside, the Boston Bruins have been on a positive run for much of March and the beginning of April, going 16-3-2 in their last 20 games.
They continued the trend with a home wins over the New Jersey Devils (8-1) Thursday and Columbus Blue Jackets Saturday by a 5-2 score to keep themselves in the hunt for the Atlantic Division's top spot. Erik Haula potted a pair of goals in the most recent win, the game-winner coming on the power play with about three minutes left in regulation to break a 2-2 tie.
Boston's offense has come alive, and with the team strength on the back end and in net, that bodes well for the team going forward. Here are three Boston forwards whose overall play is heading up after all three struggled to find their identity earlier in the season.
Erik Haula, C
With four goals and 10 points in his last six games and 18 in his last 18 overall, Haula is playing his best hockey since a career 29-goal, 55-point campaign in 2017-18 with the Vegas Golden Knights.
It wasn’t the easiest of transitions for the veteran who signed a two-year contract with the B’s on the first day of free agency. The team was counting on him getting closer to that Vegas form than what he had been since 2019, when he bounced from Carolina to Florida to Nashville, and at least in the preseason, he showed promising signs. However, when the games began to count, Haula’s offense deserted him and though he was getting chances, he became an early target of fan scorn for the lack of production.
Since mid-February, the 31-year-old has found his scoring touch and has been a much more effective 200-foot center between Taylor Hall and David Pastrnak. He scored the first goal of the night against Columbus by being in the right spot near the top of the crease, locating a loose puck and firing it home. On the winner, he camped out in front of the net, setting his stick for a Brandon Carlo aerial shot that Haula tipped past a helpless Elvis Merzlikins.
Haula, a former junior star with the Omaha Lancers and in college with the Minnesota Golden Gophers is a player with a lot of skill who plays up to his confidence levels. He’s feeling it, and it shows in his play. This is what Don Sweeney envisioned when he rolled the dice last July, and Haula’s play has stabilized the second line. Sweeney didn't land an established second-line center at the trade deadline, but Haula has stepped it up since.
Taylor Hall, LW
In 83 games going back to last season since the B’s acquired the former first overall selection in 2010 from Buffalo, the second-line winger has 24 goals and 65 points. That production puts him in line with his third-best statistical season. The numbers don’t tell the whole story, however.
Like Haula, Hall got off to a brutal start, and in early November, the whispers were starting to swirl around rinks in Boston that the team might have made a big mistake in extending him. Those fears proved premature, as Hall’s play has markedly improved since Jan. 1, and he’s playing a much harder, physical brand of hockey to go with the uptick in numbers. His 35 helpers are third after Marchand and Charlie McAvoy, and he’s using his pure speed and power more consistently.
Hall and Pastrnak are both extremely tough to defend when they use their wheels to back defenders up and force defenses to collapse around their net.
Another welcome sign from the veteran is how he’s becoming a more vocal and thoughtful presence off the ice. The 2018 NHL MVP has it in him to be a top tier performer in the league, and if he finds that level as the days get longer and playoff hockey approaches, the Bruins will be in good shape.
Trent Frederic, LW
No one will ever call the 29th overall selection in 2016 a value pick, especially since the B’s could have taken Alex DeBrincat or Adam Fox there, but the burly Missourian has found his niche on the B’s third line with Charlie Coyle (East Weymouth, Mass.) and Craig Smith. He’s playing his most productive season, though his 15 points won’t keep any opposing defenses awake at night.
Frederic’s value lies in his toughness and heavy puck possession style. He has a powerful stride, which allows him to get up the ice quickly. He can crash the net or muck for pucks along the walls. He’s never been shy about dropping the gloves, either.
He was drafted earlier than expected, and the draft day projection by then-scouting director Keith Gretzky appears to be accurate: Frederic is not a top-2 line forward, but he does have the physical attributes the Bruins place a premium on. His gritty, physical style will be important when the games get tighter down the stretch and into the postseason.
Honorable mention: Nick Foligno, LW
Sentimental favorite? Perhaps. But it was hard not to see the value in the veteran after the pre-game ceremony recognizing his 1,000th NHL game milestone (he reached it Mar. 21 on the road against Montreal) before playing the team he spent almost a decade with in Columbus. He and father Mike became a part of a very exclusive club together last month when No. 17 (the same number his dad wore during his best years in Buffalo) hit the 1k mark: they joined Bobby and Brett Hull as the only father-son duo to play 1,000 NHL games.
With only two goals and 11 points in 49 games, his lowest scoring totals since 2007-08, his rookie season with Ottawa, split between Binghamton of the AHL, Foligno has not given the Bruins their money’s worth in production. For a lot of fans out there who have never been a part of building a winning hockey team, that’s a simple fact to point out and criticize.
However, Foligno’s contributions to this Bruins team and how close it is go well beyond the low scoring numbers. Granted, that’s not a popular opinion with those who place a premium on analytics, but anyone could see with their own eyes how respected the 34-year-old is in Boston. Patrice Bergeron personally lobbied Foligno to choose the Bruins in free agency. That might not mean much to some, but he’s taken his assignment to the fourth line like the pro he is. He comports himself on and off the ice with grace and class.
On a winning team, it is so important for egos and selfishness to not emerge when things are going well. Foligno might not be overjoyed with his current role, but he’s put his head down and continued to put in the work. You can bet that when the Bruins call his number to play on a higher line, and expect it to happen at some point, he’ll be ready to go.
Final buzzer: Stick tap to Billerica, Mass. native Marc McLaughlin, who scored his first NHL goal in his first NHL game in Boston’s Devils drubbing. He skated into the offensive zone with Frederic, then broke to the net to make himself available. Frederic hit him with an on-target feed, and the former Boston College captain showed off the quick hands and snap release that saw him lead the Hockey East in scoring as a senior. It was a dream come true for him and his family. In finding the back of the net on his first taste of the big show, the Bay Stater joins some rare company.
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