Kalman: Bruins Make Best Of Imperfect Roster In Playing Capitals Tight
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Bruins might have lost for the fifth time in their past six games Tuesday but at least they showed some gumption.
Four days after their disastrous defeat in the 2016 Winter Classic at Gillette Stadium, the Bruins hung tough with the Eastern Conference-leading Washington Capitals at TD Garden before coming up short 3-2.
The Bruins were still without injured center David Krejci and suspended forward Brad Marchand.
They were also still without speedy forward David Pastrnak, who was assigned to Providence on Monday because he returned from the World Junior Championship in Finland and found out the Bruins didn't have a roster spot for him (or general manager Don Sweeney wasn't willing to get creative enough to clear a roster spot for a player who scored 10 goals in 46 games last season).
Early in the second period they lost defenseman Adam McQuaid, who was checked into the wall from behind by Washington forward Zach Sill. After staying down for several minutes, McQuaid skated off with help from his teammates with 4:47 elapsed in the period.
Still the Bruins hung with the top team in the conference, the second-best power play (after the Bruins) in the NHL and the second-best offense (behind Dallas). They were one shot away in the closing second when Bruins killer Braden Holtby (now 9-2-0 vs. Boston) robbed Zdeno Chara of an extra-attacker goal on a rebound with 29 seconds left.
"There's no moral victory, but I can't criticize the effort our team gave tonight," coach Claude Julien said. "In the situation we're in, we almost had to play a perfect game to beat those guys. I think we gave ourselves a chance there."
Considering the roster Julien was forced to play with against a team he called "one of, if not the, best in the League" the Bruins had a much better chance to win, or least earn a point, than anyone could have expected when the puck dropped. By the third period, the Bruins were playing so far over their heads even center Ryan Spooner, who's trying to be No. 2 in Krejci's absence, made a steal at the top of the Boston zone and nearly created a scoring chance during a 1-on-1 rush up ice.
Of course, the Bruins shortcomings were plenty on display as well. That Spooner play summed up where they stand right now. Spooner might be a fine third center at this stage in his career, but he's not ready for primetime as Krejci's replacement. Spooner didn't get a shot off or set up a shot after making that defensive play. Krejci would've done that. Krejci also would've been more aware of the passing lanes when Evgeny Kuznetsov fed a cross-ice pass to backdoor cutter Andre Burakovsky for the first goal of the game. Krejci would've made a play on the puck, Spooner stood there and posed for a statue.
Spooner has produced mixed results in two games against elite teams as Boston's No. 2 center. Others have failed to step up consistently in the absence of Krejci and Marchand.
Sure the Bruins finally solved Holtby twice in the same game. But they only generated chances for two periods. In the first they were outshot 10-7 but that didn't reflect how lopsided the score could have been had Tuukka Rask not matched Holtby nearly save for save. Instead it was 1-0.
The Bruins' power play, missing Krejci dearly, couldn't put any heat on Holtby in that period. Defenseman Colin Miller looked rusty filling in Krejci's spot. The Bruins got one power-play goal from Patrice Bergeron off the rush in the third period but weren't able to use the man-advantage as a momentum-changing entity.
"Yeah, we're still learning. Obviously Millsie was in there today and I thought we still had some good chances," defenseman Torey Krug said. "We easily could've scored on the first couple power plays. There probably was only one really good chance but if you get a goal there it's a different hockey game. So we put a lot of pressure on ourselves as a power play because we've been so good this year at winning us games. A little bit disappointed with our first two opportunities, the third one was a short one but the goal on the fourth, that was a big goal for our team."
In the second period the Bruins started to get their legs but still went one stretch of 9:21 of the period without a shot on net. That wasn't as bad as the 14:50 against Montreal, but it was still enough to let the Capitals off the hook and allow them to take a 2-0 lead that was too difficult for the Bruins to overcome.
These are the types of struggles the Bruins don't usually have with Krejci and Marchand in the lineup. We'll find out after one more game of Marchand's suspension if the Bruins can play better with a Krejci-less lineup. Marchand's return should be a boost but the Bruins proved last year, when they ranked 22nd in goals per game, that life without Krejci is a grind at the offensive end.
It would help if the Bruins could fill their roster with more talent. Pastrnak skating for the six or seven minutes Zac Rinaldo and Tyler Randell each got would go a long way toward helping the Bruins pop an extra goal or two in. For reasons only he knows, general manager Don Sweeney has decided to deny Julien that weapon at this crucial time of this season.
The Bruins lack Pastrnak and have Spooner, Miller, Brett Connolly and others still learning on the job. It's a roster not only in flux because of a lack of experience but also because of mixed messages from management about whether this team's going for wins or building toward the future. It's also a roster that only has a chance against teams like Montreal and Washington by playing a perfect game. And those types of performances are few and far between.
Matt Kalman covers the Bruins for CBSBoston.com and also contributes to NHL.com and several other media outlets. Follow him on Twitter @TheBruinsBlog.
