Boston Bruins center Patrice Bergeron finished tied for the team lead with 30 goals scored last season, and he’s on his way to repeating that accomplishment in 2014-15.
Bergeron scored his 16th goal of the campaign in Saturday night’s 5-2 loss to the Vancouver Canucks. It was a fantastic solo effort that helped switch the momentum in Boston’s favor after a poor start in which the Canucks opened up a 2-0 lead in the first five minutes.
Bergeron leads the Bruins in goals (16), scoring (37 points), shots (158), faceoff percentage (59.5) scoring chance-for percentage (59.6) and just about every puck possession metric. He’s also second in assists (21). It’s not likely that Bergeron will be a finalist for the Hart Trophy given Boston’s season so far, but there are very few players who make a more profound impact for their team in all three zones.
— Tuukka Rask allowed four goals for the first time since Dec. 4, a span of 23 starts in which he gave up two goals or fewer 16 times. The Bruins goaltender wasn’t at fault for any of the four goals, as defensive mistakes by the players in front of him resulted in Grade A scoring chances for the Canucks.
— Bruins head coach Claude Julien switched his right wingers again in search of more offense. Reilly Smith, who’s scored just one goal in the last 18 games, was moved from the Bergeron line to the Krejci line. Loui Eriksson was moved to the Bergeron line and David Pastrnak took his place on the Soderberg line.
Boston’s four right wingers combined for just three shots on goal and zero points.
— Bruins center Chris Kelly quietly has enjoyed a very good season. He scored his seventh goal of the campaign in the third period, which cut the deficit to 3-2. The Bruins also had a plus-8 shot attempt differential (14 for, six against) when Kelly was on the ice, the best mark among the team’s forwards.
— The Adam McQuaid-Dennis Seidenberg pairing struggled again. Turnovers and other defensive mistakes from this duo contributed to three goals against. In fairness, the entire blue line didn’t play at a high level, but the Bruins need more from their second pairing (McQuaid-Seidenberg) to consistently win games.
— There were two bright spots for the Bruins. The first was their penalty kill, which went 3-for-3 and improved to 53-for-56 since the start of January. The other positive was Boston’s 30-19 edge on faceoffs, led by Patrice Bergeron winning 12 of his 16 draws (75 percent).
— Vancouver goaltender Ryan Miller made 21 saves on 23 shots for his 26th win of the season and first against the Bruins as a member of the Canucks.
— Thanks to the Florida Panthers’ loss to the Dallas Stars on Friday night, the Bruins still have a four-point lead over the Atlantic Division foe for the final wild-card playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Thumbnail photo via Ron Chenoy/USA TODAY Sports Images
