Kalman: Bruins' Riding Of Red-Hot Marchand, Spooner, Bergeron Sufficient For Short-Term Success
BOSTON (CBS) - Brad Marchand might not be among the elite Bruins in terms of bench presses, but right now he's carrying the offense on his diminutive shoulders.
Of course, it helps that Marchand is getting a little assistance with the heavy lifting from linemate Patrice Bergeron and the suddenly versatile Ryan Spooner.
All three forwards played huge roles in the Bruins pulling out a crucial two points in a 3-2 shootout win after they trailed 2-0 on the road against the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday.
Spooner, who has settled in at his natural center position after about a week as a wing (including some time next to Bergeron and Marchand), scored a dirty goal at 1:45 of the second period, 58 seconds after the Sabres took their 2-0 lead, to get the Bruins on the board. Spooner then scored his third shootout-deciding goal of the season with a forehand shot to the top shelf in the first round of the post-overtime spectacle, which Boston won 1-0.
But Marchand, whose extracurricular infractions and unnecessary discipline issues have often overshadowed his blossoming skills, scored the nastiest and most important goal of the night after the Bruins killed off a penalty in the third period. After taking a pass from Bergeron, Marchand started up ice, circled back to the blue line from the red line and then made an end-to-end rush, which ended with a backhand shot beating Chad Johnson short side.
The yeoman's effort by Marchand was emblematic of what the speedy left wing has been doing for the Bruins all season (he leads the team with 23 goals) and in the past several weeks (he has 8-1-9 totals in his past nine games). Marchand doesn't have the type of profile that earns a player mention in the Hart Trophy race, but considering his scoring prowess and his importance to the Bruins at even strength and on special teams, you can make the argument that he's Boston's MVP among players not named Bergeron.
Of course, the hot hand only gets a player so far sometimes. Marchand's ice time overall is up by about two minutes per game and he's getting regular time on the second power play for the first time in several seasons. But in overtime against Buffalo, Marchand didn't get off the bench during a 4-on-3 power play. Spooner and Bergeron were out there, but coach Claude Julien might've been wise to get his top goal-scorer onto the ice. Spooner's shootout goal made sure the Marchand-less, goal-less power play didn't cost the Bruins.
As for the Bruins' overall situation, they're current formula of relying on three players for all their offense might not be sufficient for getting the Bruins' into the postseason come mid-April. With Marchand, Bergeron (4-3-7 in his past eight games) and Spooner (6-20-26 in his past 26 games) rolling, though, the Bruins have been getting just enough offense to go 11-9-2 in their past 22 games and earn three points in their past two games against Buffalo and Toronto, two teams that don't matter in the standings because they're well behind the Bruins.
With Loui Eriksson (nine games), Matt Beleskey (eight games) and Torey Krug (25 games) mired in lengthy goal droughts, the Bruins' current incarnation of a "Big Three" couldn't have picked a better time to get extremely hot. And thanks to some mediocre play from the Detroit Red Wings of late, the Bruins find themselves in third place in the Atlantic Division.
It doesn't appear there will ever be any daylight between the Bruins and the other teams competing for playoff spots in the Atlantic and Eastern Conference wild-card race. When it comes to getting wins and standings points against the likes of Buffalo, the Bruins won't be judged on how they get it done as long as they take the points.
However, when the schedule gets more difficult – and it will after the rematch with Buffalo on Saturday, as Los Angeles visits Boston and then the Bruins leave on a six-game road trip – the Bruins' current model for success could spell their doom. They're going to need a lot more production from a lot more different players in the not-so-distant future.
Or they can hope Marchand's hot palms go white-hot and he starts averaging two goals a game rather than one. Considering the overall trajectory of Marchand's career, no level of production should be surprising.
Matt Kalman covers the Bruins for CBSBoston.com and also contributes to NHL.com and several other media outlets. Follow him on Twitter @TheBruinsBlog.
