Kalman: Bruins Finding Out What Life's Like When You 'Play The Kids'
By Matt Kalman, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- "Play the kids." – Seemingly every Bruins fan after every lackluster loss the past six seasons since the Stanley Cup championship of 2011.
You all got your wish, so no complaining.
Sure, the Bruins went on a road trip to take on three teams, including a first-year expansion squad, that only people who love long shots have picked to be anywhere near the postseason in April, and went 1-2-0. But look, they did it while playing the kids.
You're probably so devoted to this "play the kids" mantra that your initial reaction to my pointing out that "play the kids" isn't the panacea you believe is probably goes something like "well, the kids aren't the problem."
I forgive you because you want "the kids" to be so great, you treat them like your own kids and can't see their faults. But even if the kids didn't deserve any of the blame for the Bruins' listless road trip, that's beside the point. Because a kid-heavy lineup, featuring five rookies, leaves little room for error for the veterans and automatically has five spots not filled by players with experience that can drive a team because rookies are ... well they're rookies and they can only become so assertive.
There may be more problems among the Bruins' veteran class than their rookie crop, but there's plenty of fault for all comers. After all, the Bruins played just two strong periods out of six against Colorado and Arizona, and then came one Vegas player's skate shy of getting shut out by the Golden Knights and their sensations, young new goaltender Malcolm Subban.
Let's break down the Bruins' problems by focusing on two separate groups of players.
1. The veterans ... First of all, Patrice Bergeron and David Backes are missing. Of course the rest of the League will say "cry me a river." The Minnesota Wild are missing half their top six and the Golden Knights took the ice against the Bruins without Jonathan Marchessault and Erik Haula in front of Marc-Andre Fleury in net.
Brad Marchand seems to be motoring around, even without Bergeron at his side. It's not his fault he's been saddled with Riley Nash as a center. However, Nash's deficiencies might be better hidden if $6 million man David Pastrnak was dictating play the way he's supposed to. He has a two-game goal streak, but one goal went off his body and the other off an opponent's skate. Those two "goals" accounted for half his shot-on-net total the past two games.
Nash also can't be blamed for being miscast because in a world where Bruins players meet their expectations, Ryan Spooner would be driving one of the top two lines in Bergeron's absence. Instead, Spooner had wilted. Before leaving the loss to Vegas on Sunday with a lower-body injury he had one shot on net. His linemate Frank Vatrano clearly hasn't received the message from coach Bruce Cassidy. Cassidy wanted Vatrano to find his 'B' game; now the coach would probably be satisfied with a 'C' game because then he might be able to trust Vatrano to play more than 8:42 in a game against a first-year expansion team.
Give Tim Schaller high marks for his efforts making things happen in front of the net. But therein lies the problem the Bruins have had for too many stretches the past couple years, when their fourth line has often been their best line.
On defense, Zdeno Chara had an outstanding game in Arizona but was ineffective in the other two games. Adam McQuaid (before he was injured), Kevan Miller and Torey Krug all had more gaffes than highlights throughout the trip.
Perhaps a boost of youth would do all the slumping veterans well, but...
2. The rookies have not carried the Bruins and they're not expected too. During the road trip they all had some high moments, including Anders Bjork's first NHL goal. But what happened Sunday in the second half of their first NHL back-to-back? It was like early Halloween because they all became ghosts. Bjork's hope of starting a goal-scoring streak came to a halt without him landing a single shot on Subban. Jake DeBrusk had three non-threatening shots; Charlie McAvoy didn't make much happen, despite continuing to play in the highest gear in all situations (something he's going to have to learn to dial back); Sean Kuraly had his first game to forget with two minor penalties and an inexcusable giveaway in the middle of the ice that led to Vegas' first goal.
Danton Heinen deserves props for accepting his fourth-line role and adjusting his style to be affective while also showing off his skills. One of Cassidy's first moves when the Bruins get back to Boston should be to elevate Heinen in the lineup.
The problem is, one out of five isn't going to cut it, and that's what the Bruins were getting for most of the seven periods that they weren't beating up on an Arizona club that seemed more like puppies than Coyotes.
Again, the rookies aren't THE problem. But they're a problem when so many veterans can't find their game. The "next-man-up" mentality talked about in hockey so much is about more than just making up for injured players, it's also about elevating one's game when others are struggling. At this early stage of the season, the veterans should be the ones picking up the rookies. But the veterans are still playing as though there's a legion of other veterans waiting to pick them up, while the rookies are still finding their way.
At the risk of piling on, the coach shouldn't be immune from criticism after the Bruins started out slow in all three of their games on the road. Maybe all the early-season line juggling has left the Bruins short on chemistry. And what happened to the team that was going to not only push the pace but use the points less in an effort to make plays happen around the net? While other teams may be slowing the Bruins down, they've become a perimeter team on their own accord and it seems like all they do is look for passes away from where the goals should be scored from.
If there's a positive it's that the season isn't over. Bergeron should return soon, Pastrnak should be at his frantic best with the puck again and the rookies have shown during some stretches the dynamic things they can do.
It's increasing the number of those successful stretches that will be the challenge from here and the roller-coaster nature of a season featuring so much youth and inexperience in the lineup is going to continue probably through the spring. Because this is what happens when you play the kids, and you finally got what you wanted.
Matt Kalman covers the Bruins for CBSBoston.com and also contributes to NHL.com and several other media outlets. Follow him on Twitter@MattKalman.
