Historically speaking, it took a lot to make Bruins superstar Patrice Bergeron legitimately angry.
But I’ll never forget this random preseason game — and we’re talking well into Bergeron’s career, so it’s not as if he was worried about his odds of making the team — where Bergeron was fuming postgame.
It had nothing to do with the result and everything to do with what he felt were nonstop penalties. Whether or not the penalties were legitimate or earned was ultimately irrelevant and he didn’t care about that. Instead, what irked Bergeron was that the parade to the box made it difficult (impossible, actually) to generate chemistry and that momentum was a distant dream when constantly shifting lines around because not everybody on an NHL roster is a penalty killer. And the frustration within that was that they needed to get some chemistry going to figure out what kind of team they truly had on their hands.
With that in mind, it’s not hard to envision that Bergeron, even in retirement, turning the Black and Gold’s locker room at Bridgestone Arena into a true ‘Smashville’ rage room had he been in town for a 4-0 shutout loss to Juuse Saros and the Predators on Tuesday night.
Already the most penalized team in the NHL this season, the Bruins continued their ‘run’ in this latest setback, with the Bruins on the kill six more times in this contest. It was a true smorgasbord of infractions, too, from a downright lazy penalty from David Pastrnak just 13 seconds into the first period, along with a pair of first-period minors from Max Jones, and even a double-minor from Charlie McAvoy.
Bruins run through more line combos
Oct 8, 2024; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Boston Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery reacts from the bench against the Florida Panthers during the third period at Amerant Bank Arena. (Sam Navarro/Imagn Images)
There’s only so many ways that Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery can shake things up with his forward grouping. And through seven games, we’ve pretty much seen almost every which way.
Tuesday came with perhaps his most drastic move yet, with Max Jones thrown back in the lineup and seemingly given a promotion to the left of Charlie Coyle and Trent Frederic on Boston’s second line. The tinkering didn’t stop there, though, as the Bruins also dropped Pavel Zacha down to the third line with Matt Poitras and Morgan Geekie, while Brad Marchand moved into a top-line spot with Elias Lindholm and David Pastrnak.
And this latest shake of the Magic 8-ball did nothing for the Bruins, to be honest.
The Jones-Coyle-Frederic line had, honestly, one of the worst starts possible. In addition to two penalties for Jones, Coyle had a downright horrendous giveaway right to the slot, and the line was out-attempted 4-0 and outshot 3-0 in barely a minute and 20 seconds of five-on-five time together in the first period. They got better in the second period and had a decent little flurry to kick things off, but they never felt like a true threat.
Poitras, meanwhile, took his licks but remained determined and even had a strong feed to Hampus Lindholm for a solid scoring chance in the third period. But he still finished without a shot on goal to his name.
In other words, the middle six grouping remained as dark as it’s ever been for these Bruins.
And, again, the Bruins are beginning to run out of shake-ups with their current 14-forward look.
One problem here is that the guys the Bruins have in their chamber as ‘spark’ type options are bordering on unplayable. In what was his third game of the season, Jones had another multi-penalty night, bringing him up to four penalties in just 30:18 of time on ice. Jones is one of just two players in the entire NHL to be called for at least four penalties while playing under 70 minutes (Garnet Hathaway is the other, with five penalties in just over 69 minutes of action this season). Rate it our per-60 and Jones has a league-worst 7.92 minors per 60. If you’re a ‘fringe’ type bottom-sixer, that can’t happen. And it can’t happen after you already did that as your first impression like Jones did on Opening Night down in Florida.
Riley Tufte, meanwhile, jumped into the lineup for last week’s game against the Avalanche and managed to take two offensive-zone penalties in just 6:54 of time on ice. Again, that can’t happen if you’re trying to earn a spot here.
Something that was noted when the Bruins added both Jones and Tufte was that they were both first-round picks, and thus had that first-round pick pedigree. The unspoken understanding there is that they’re smart players who simply know what it takes to be safe, effective players in any role. But with six penalties in a combined 37 minutes between the two, it’s getting harder and harder to justify them being your ‘mix it up’ type options out of the pen.
I mean, just think about it this way: Would a younger player such as Matt Poitras — or guys currently in Providence such as Georgii Merkulov or Fabian Lysell — continue to get minutes with those penalty rates? The answer is a resounding and emphatic no. I know it, you know it, and the Bruins know it.
And if Montgomery is going to talk about how they’re taking too many penalties after pretty much every game, and if offense from the middle six is going to continue to be an issue (it actually got worse from Saturday in Utah to Tuesday in Nashville), one can’t help but wonder if and when they shake it up and go with riskier-but-higher ceilings over the proverbial safer floors. Especially if those floors are proving to actually be unsafe for even part-time deployment.
Swayman getting sharper
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH – OCTOBER 19: Jeremy Swayman #1 of the Boston Bruins looks on during the first period of a game against the Utah Hockey Club at Delta Center on October 19, 2024 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Alex Goodlett/Getty Images)
Trying to find positives within a 4-0 loss is a bit like going full Laura Dern circa ’93 and digging through dinosaur droppings, I admit. But if there’s something you can like from this game, it’s the performance of Jeremy Swayman, who turned in a solid performance, with 38 saves on 41 shots faced from a desperate Preds squad.
To keep it real simple and plain, had it not been for Swayman, this game could’ve easily been a 7-0 final. In fact, this road trip was a real strong showing from Swayman despite the 0-1-1 record along the way, with 68 saves on 73 shots (a .932 save percentage). And in goal for five games thus far, Swayman has been solid, with a .911 save percentage which ranks seventh among 17 goalies with at least five starts.
Swayman can be better, and he’s already showing signs of that, but a good start was a downright requirement for him. Fair or unfair, there’s still some heat on the 25-year-old Swayman after his contract stalemate. There are some out there who still would’ve preferred to not pay Swayman and instead trade him with his value at its Boston height. Had he gotten off to a Georgiev-esque start after all of that? God, I would’ve just logged off Twitter forever.
What’s really noteworthy here, though, is the fact that Swayman has started five of seven games thus far and that the Bruins haven’t really shown much interest in easing him into things despite signing one day after camp ended. And as it stands right now, Swayman is paced for what would be a 58-start year. That may be up his alley, as Swayman actually told the Bruins at last year’s exit meetings that he wanted to start at least 55 games in 2024-25.
But — and this is an important but here — the Bruins may want or need to start working Joonas Korpisalo in more.
If the Bruins look at 55 starts or so as the sweet spot, the general idea or belief here is that they would like to save some bullets for when they truly need them. October hockey, as live-and-die as it may feel given the insatiable hockey hunger you develop in the offseason, is not that. And if these Bruins are flawed beyond a slow start, a late-season scramble for playoff seeding is not out of the realm of possibilities. If such a fate awaits the Bruins, it’s imperative that you have Swayman upright and at his best for that run and not burnt out by early March.
Everything else
Oct 22, 2024; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Nashville Predators goaltender Juuse Saros (74) blocks the shot of Boston Bruins right wing David Pastrnak (88) during the second period at Bridgestone Arena. (Steve Roberts/Imagn Images)
– The Bruins are committed to Poitras as a long-term center option for their club, I know, but we may be approaching the point where the Bruins consider trying him on the wing with Charlie Coyle. Be it with Trent Frederic or Brad Marchand as the third man. There’s just something missing with Coyle’s line right now.
– It will not get the love it deserves because they lost, but I thought Brandon Carlo was absolute excellent on the penalty kill in this game. He was snuffing out looks and second-chance opportunities left and right with the B’s down a man. Carlo finished the loss with a team-leading three blocked shots while on the penalty kill.
– Weird stat: The last four Bruins-Predators games at Bridgestone Arena have all been shutouts. The Bruins entered Tuesday’s game with three straight shutouts in Nashville’s barn (two from Swayman before one from Linus Ullmark late last season) before Juuse Saros finally returned the favor with a 33-of-33 night in this contest.
– Not exactly breaking news given what the Bruins have already said about his status, but Tyler Johnson remains with the Bruins on a pro tryout and remains patient, according to the latest update from NHL insider Chris Johnston. The Bruins do not currently have the cap space to sign Johnson, who scored 17 goals for the Blackhawks a year ago, but they may be rapidly approaching the point where they simply need the offense and are willing to waive someone such as Riley Tufte to gain the cap space to sign Johnson a Heinen-esque deal. (For reference here, Heinen signed a league-minimum contract on Oct. 30 last season.)
