Tim Thomas and Zdeno Chara will have to work, and Tyler Seguin will also participate in the rookie skills competition, but while the rest of the squad prepares for a few days off. Here’s a look at a half dozen items from the past week that may have otherwise slipped through the cracks in the latest installment of the Bruins Shootout.
1. Patrice Bergeron is undergoing an offensive renaissance this season, but the Bruins’ leading scorer is still just tied for 39th in the league with 39 points. Milan Lucic has a career-high 19 goals to lead the club, but that’s tied for just 18th in the NHL. So how do the Bruins have the fifth highest scoring team in league this year? Balance.
The Bruins have eight players with 10 or more goals, tied for the most in the league. They have 10 players with 20 or more points. Only Detroit, with 11, has more. The Bruins might not have that single superstar or one dominant line, but they have scoring spread throughout their lineup, which may just be a better approach. Opponents can’t focus on shutting down just one line or matching their top defense pair against a particular unit. The Bruins have had trouble keeping everyone going at the same time due to injuries and slumps, but this could be a very tough team to stop if they can find that consistency among their many complementary parts.
2. Fighting in hockey remains a controversial issue, and the debate that has gone on for generations isn’t likely to end anytime soon. But the anti-fighting lobby should at least be forced to abandon the ill-informed notion that fighting does not serve a purpose or have an impact on the game. Greg Campbell provided the latest example on Saturday. Coming off a lackluster 4-2 loss to Buffalo and seeing his club fall behind 1-0 early in Colorado, Campbell realized the Bruins needed a spark. He provided just that with a bout against Cody McLeod 57 seconds after the Avalanche had scored. McLeod probably landed a few more punches, but Campbell got the result he sought as the Bruins finally awoke from their slumber and went on to post a 6-2 win. Almost to a man, the Bruins pointed to Campbell’s fight as the turning point that day, much like how Shawn Thornton‘s lengthy battle with Atlanta’s Eric Boulton off the opening faceoff on Dec. 23 set the tone for a 4-1 win to snap the Bruins out of a 1-3-1 funk. Not every fan has to enjoy the fisticuffs, but they can’t deny that a well-timed fight can have a positive impact on a team.
3. Brad Marchand came into camp with no guarantee of even sticking with the big club. After all, he had no goals and just one assist in his first 20 games with Boston last year, and the Bruins’ depth up front offered few openings for the youngster to crack. But a solid camp earned him a spot, and after helping make the fourth line with Campbell and Thornton arguably Boston’s most consistent and effective unit, Marchand finally got a chance to show what he can do on a scoring line this month.
And Marchand is showing he can do plenty. Bumped up to a line with Bergeron and Mark Recchi in Montreal on Jan. 8, Marchand has responded with 6-4-10 totals over the ensuing nine games, while the line as a whole has combined for 17 goals and 33 points in that stretch. Marchand now has 12-12-24 totals in 45 games despite averaging just 12:59 a game in ice time. He also leads the entire league with four shorthanded goals and tops all rookies with a plus-21.
4. Marchand has surprisingly emerged as Boston’s top rookie this year. But it’s even more surprising that No. 2 overall pick Tyler Seguin has been just the fourth-best rookie in the Bruins’ lineup this year. While Seguin has endured some growing pains with a modest 7-9-16 line through 46 games, his place in the rookie pecking order has less to do with his struggles than it does with the contributions of the other members of an impressive rookie class.
In addition to Marchand, there’s no denying the impact Steven Kampfer has had, as he’s put up 4-4-8 totals in just 22 games and given the defense a much-needed infusion of speed, mobility and offensive ability. Fellow defenseman Adam McQuaid can also stake a claim to contributing more this season, as he’s earned his ice time with his physical presence and smart positional play. McQuaid is second on the team in fighting majors (8) and PIMs (64), though he has more majors than minors (7) so he seldom leaves the Bruins shorthanded. He’s also second on the team with 62 blocked shots in just 34 games, and is plus-16 with seven assists.
5. Evgeni Nabokov‘s decision to spurn the Islanders after they claimed him on waivers could have an impact on the Bruins. The Islanders are just six points behind Toronto, and a much-needed upgrade in goal could have been enough for New York to catch the Leafs in the second half of the season. That in turn would further raise the value of Toronto’s top pick in this year’s draft, which the Bruins own as the final piece of the Phil Kessel trade. The Bruins are still sure to get a very good pick, but every team that passes Toronto will add to the chances for Boston to land another potential franchise cornerstone from the trade that keeps on giving.
6. From the Fun While It Lasted Department: Despite his career-high seven goals, Thornton may just have to concede defeat in one of the more unlikely scoring races of the first half of the season. Thornton was neck and neck with New Jersey’s $100-million man Ilya Kovalchuk in goals for most of the season, and was still within one after his two-goal night against Atlanta on Dec. 23. But Thornton hasn’t had another goal in 15 games since that night, while Kovalchuk has finally started to put up some numbers. Kovalchuk scored his 14th of the year on Sunday to double Thornton’s total.
But all is not lost for Thornton, who is finally living up to his self-described role as a “disher” with four assists since his last goal, including three in the last five games. That gives him five helpers on the year and a slight lead in his other big scoring race, where he’s trying to finish with more assists than Bruins goalie Tim Thomas, who has a career-high three so far.
