BOSTON — It is not coach Jim Montgomery’s fault that David Pastrňák, Brad Marchand, Elias Lindholm, Pavel Zacha and Charlie McAvoy, the Boston Bruins’ five best offensive players, did nothing for 97 seconds when given a five-on-three power play in Tuesday’s first period.
It is not Montgomery’s fault Mason Lohrei fumbled defensive-zone pucks so consistently in the first period that he had to bench the second-year pro for the rest of the period.
It is not Montgomery’s fault Marchand flubbed a puck so badly during a third-period power play that the coach covered his face with his notes.
But it is Montgomery’s responsibility to fix the multiple leaks the Bruins have sprung this season, the latest coming in Tuesday’s 2-0 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers.
It looks like a monumental task.
From start to finish, the Bruins executed at a minor-league level. They passed pucks into skates. They botched offensive-zone entries. They made weak clearing passes that produced little off the rush. They barely went to the front of the net.
The outcome could have been worse. Joonas Korpisalo, making his third start, took two goals off the board. In the first, Korpisalo made a last-ditch kick save on Bobby Brink’s point-blank chance. Later in the first, Scott Laughton and Garnet Hathaway went up the ice for a two-on-one shorthanded rush. When Laughton dished a slot-line pass to Hathaway, Korpisalo slid from right to left and gloved the ex-Bruin’s attempt.
What the Bruins played on Tuesday was not up to NHL standard.
“We’re not making plays,” said Montgomery. “We’re not doing enough to generate high-danger scoring chances. Whether that’s a will to go to those areas or not the right game plan, we’re all culpable for not coming out with a victory tonight.”
Consider the opponent. Samuel Ersson, Philadelphia’s goalie, entered the night with an .872 save percentage in six appearances. According to Moneypuck, Ersson had saved -6.1 goals above expectation.
The Bruins gave Ersson a holiday.
During 4:48 of total power-play time, the Bruins put only two pucks on Ersson. On the two-man advantage, they chose to remain stationary in their spread formation instead of moving around, creating seams and forcing the Flyers to chase. Montgomery’s subsequent tweaks — replacing Zacha at the net front with Justin Brazeau and starting a third-period power play with the No. 2 unit — did not do anything.
“On every team, your best players, your star players, have to carry the weight of the load offensively,” said Montgomery. “Those are the players that are out on the power play. Right now, the offense isn’t materializing for us.”
Some of this is expected. The Bruins are a top-six wing short following Jake DeBrusk’s departure. Montgomery has run through practically the entire roster at No. 2 right wing: Brazeau, Morgan Geekie, Trent Frederic, Matt Poitras. On Thursday, even Mark Kastelic, normally the fourth-line center, got a ride with Marchand and Charlie Coyle.
But being without DeBrusk doesn’t explain the complete disappearance of Geekie, who has zero goals and one assist in nine games. It doesn’t explain why Marchand, Coyle and Zacha, all top-six forwards, have zero five-on-five goals among them. Even without DeBrusk, the Bruins should be better than 14.3 percent on the power play.
Underperformance, it appears, is across the board.
“It’s a multitude of things, it seems like,” Montgomery answered when asked why the Bruins couldn’t build upon their overtime win over the Toronto Maple Leafs. “Some guys are still fighting it as far as their confidence and their ability to be smooth with the puck.”
The Bruins are not as slow as they look. But their shaky confidence is producing indecision. They’re taking too long to complete passes, shoot pucks and crash the net. Everything is off.
“When you’re struggling offensively, maybe you just hold that stick,” said Hampus Lindholm. “Usually when you’re on a hot streak, you just take that puck and snap it right away. You don’t think. This game comes much easier when you just play on your intuition.”
Ten games is not a small sample. The 4-5-1 Bruins are what they are, and that is not good enough.
(Top photo: Brian Fluharty / Imagn Images)
