BOSTON — The Boston Bruins believed they were a playoff contender, partly because of one universal truth: David Pastrnak would score.
Yet following Friday’s 2-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins, owners of the worst goal differential in the league, Pastrnak has gone seven straight games without scoring. It’s not just that. This is the second seven-game dry spell for No. 88. The Bruins are 6-6-2 during those two goal-less stretches for Pastrnak.
Pastrnak pumped seven pucks on Tristan Jarry. He now has 100, the most of any player in the NHL. Yet he is parked on just eight goals, which is not enough for the Bruins to be above water the way they’re designed.
His best chance on Friday didn’t even hit the net.
In the third period, with the score tied at 1-1, Pavel Zacha dished a puck out of the corner for Pastrnak in the bumper. The Penguins had no one on Pastrnak. When he’s on, Pastrnak cans the one-timer high blocker on every goalie in the league. But Pastrnak one-timed his riser above everything and into the protective netting.
“Sometimes you have to give them some space and try to find their game offensively,” interim coach Joe Sacco, prior to Friday’s game, said of finishers like Pastrnak. “I think it’s coming for David.”
Volume is not the problem. Pastrnak led all players with 14 attempts. But the Penguins blocked six of Pastrnak’s sniffs. On the power play, opposing penalty killers are sitting on Pastrnak’s left-elbow one-timer, either by denying seam passes or filling his shooting lane. So far, he has yet to adjust. He has three power-play goals compared to 12 last year.
At five-on-five, Pastrnak is also stuck on three goals. He had 27 last season. His 5.0 five-on-five shooting percentage is the lowest of his career.
The Bruins are playing better in their five games under Sacco. But they are not built to survive a long-term Pastrnak drought.
“We’ve got to trust our game,” said Charlie Coyle, who scored the Bruins’ only goal. “Sometimes it’s boring. Sometimes it’s not too fun. But it’s effective for us. When that happens, our game opens up the right way and our plays are there as a result of that.”
Charlie Coyle opens the scoring for the @NHLBruins just 1:24 into the game! 🐻
🇺🇸: @NHL_On_TNT & @SportsonMax ➡️ https://t.co/4TuyIATi3T
🇨🇦: @Sportsnet or stream on Sportsnet+ ➡️ https://t.co/4KjbdjVctF pic.twitter.com/SrneUYQeq1— NHL (@NHL) November 29, 2024
Defense has to be airtight
When Sacco studies the team’s analytics report after every game, he likes to look at slot performance at both ends to measure his team’s performance. Defensively, in particular, the Bruins have improved between the dots.
“We’ve done a better job of that lately,” said Sacco. “Our numbers show that. They reflect that. We’re keeping more pucks to the outside. The quality of their chances aren’t as high as they’ve been.”
Some of that slipped against Pittsburgh. The Penguins are a rush team. The Bruins are not. The Bruins need low-event, tight-checking defense to produce results. In that way, the Bruins played the loosest of their five games following Jim Montgomery’s firing.
“We got caught up in a little bit of a game that we probably shouldn’t have played. It’s not to our strength,” said Sacco. “We’re at our best when we’re checking, we’re tight through the neutral zone, we’re stiff in our own end. We’ve got to get back to that. It slipped a little bit for us.”
Jeremy Swayman is back
Jeremy Swayman’s last two games for Montgomery did not go well. He allowed seven goals to the Dallas Stars. He was in net for five goals against the Columbus Blue Jackets, Montgomery’s final game.
Things appear to have turned.
Swayman has allowed three goals in three starts for Sacco. He has a .943 save percentage over the three games. Swayman looks more like himself: square, fast, anticipatory, efficient with his rebounds.
“I think there’s been a lot of progress since the start of the year for me,” said Swayman, who’s been busy with goaltending coach Bob Essensa. “Practice reps and Bob and I getting to work has helped a lot. I know that when I stick to my process, I trust it. It rewards me every single time. It’s good to see there are some good things happening. I know that I can keep growing my game.”
Just like the Bruins count on Pastrnak, they are just as reliant on Swayman. He is answering the call. Even if he was tagged with losses in two of his last three starts, neither of them were on him.
Swayman stopped 34 of 36 shots on Friday. He lost his footing prior to Rickard Rakell’s first-period goal with 0.8 seconds remaining. On the winning goal, Philip Tomasino won a puck from Morgan Geekie on the wall in the Bruins’ end. Then when Evgeni Malkin returned the puck to Tomasino, Mason Lohrei sagged back instead of challenging the Pittsburgh forward. Tomasino got Swayman down with a pump fake, then snapped the winner through the goalie.
The Bruins host the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday. Swayman has earned another start.
Trent Frederic is not doing enough
Trent Frederic made a very good play to set up Coyle off the rush. After taking a pass from Tyler Johnson, Frederic, from the left-side boards, snapped a slot-line pass to Coyle to the other side of the ice.
Frederic wasn’t visible otherwise.
He had zero shots on no attempts. He played 12:55, No. 9 among team forwards.
Frederic has three goals and four assists in 25 games. This is not the contract year the Bruins expected from the roughneck forward. At this rate, the Bruins may prefer to deal the pending unrestricted free agent instead of signing him to an extension.
(Photo: Winslow Townson / Imagn Images)
