Scoring goals was one of the Boston Bruins’ strengths last season, but this campaign has been a much different story.
The B’s were shut out 2-0 by the defending Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday night to fall to 0-2-0 midway through a four-game Western Conference road trip. The Bruins are 1-4-1 in their last five games, with an average of 1.2 goals scored during that span. Since the start of November, they have scored three or more goals in just four of 14 games.
Boston’s quality goaltending and defensive improvement (1.87 goals against average over the last eight games) haven’t been able to make up for the lack of offense — whether at even strength or on the power play.
The B’s rank 23rd in goals scored per game (2.35), 17th in goals scored (44) at 5-on-5, 22nd in first-period goals (18), 20th in second-period goals (21) and 20th in third-period goals (19). Scoring away from TD Garden also has been a problem for the Bruins: They rank 24th with 25 road goals, including just seven tallies in their last five road contests.
Boston’s power play hasn’t fared much better. The Original Six club ranks 18th with a 17.7 percent success rate on the power play and is 0-for-17 with the man advantage since Nov. 15 (a span of eight games). The Bruins didn’t have a power-play opportunity against the Kings, and their 62 power-play chances on the season is the lowest total in the league.
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Despite these lackluster offensive numbers, Boston still ranks fifth with an even-strength 53.04 Corsi-for percentage. This shows the B’s are consistently out-shooting their opponents and controlling puck possession at even strength. What’s missing is the ability to finish scoring chances.
The Bruins don’t have a sniper or a pure goal scorer. They rely on scoring depth, which was excellent last season when six players tallied 19 goals or more. The offseason departure of 30-goal scorer Jarome Iginla, as well as injuries to first-line center David Krejci (15 games missed) and No. 1 defenseman Zdeno Chara (17 games missed), have tremendously hurt Boston’s scoring depth.
The veteran players who have been in the lineup on a regular basis aren’t picking up the slack. Brad Marchand leads the team with six goals, but he’s scored only once in his last nine games. Patrice Bergeron (six-game goalless drought), Carl Soderberg (10-game goalless drought), Reilly Smith (10-game goalless drought) and Loui Eriksson (11-game goalless drought) haven’t provided enough scoring production for a team decimated by injuries.
The Bruins’ effort has helped them create enough quality scoring chances; they just aren’t capitalizing on them. This puts Tuukka Rask and Niklas Svedberg in positions in which they must be near-perfect for the team to secure two points, especially against elite opponents.
Four of Boston’s last five games were against Stanley Cup contenders — Montreal, Pittsburgh, Anaheim and Los Angeles — and the B’s earned only one point because they scored four total goals in those contests.
There are several encouraging aspects of the Bruins’ recent performances, including a strong penalty kill and good goaltending. But until the team’s offense can find the back of the net more than twice per game on a consistent basis, wins will be hard to come by, with nine of the remaining 12 December games against teams with winning records.
Thumbnail photo via Russell LaBounty/USA TODAY Sports Images
