There’s only one thing that’s truly concerning about the Bruins

It took until the 66th game of the regular season, but the Boston Bruins are officially victims of their own success.

For almost five full months, Jim Montgomery’s Bruins have made it look waaaaay too easy in a league where even the best teams lose 25 to 30 games a season. I mean, let’s be honest, they’ve been borderline unbeatable.

No matter the roster, situation, or score, you’ve just had a feeling that the Bruins were going to leave the ice with another two points banked away. Your feelings have rarely let you astray there, too. Boston’s 11 regulation losses in 2022-23 have a three-loss ‘lead’ on Carolina for the fewest in the league, while the Bruins’ .795 point percentage is .068 better than the Hurricanes for tops in the league.

But with losses in three of their last four outings, and with back-to-back regulation losses for the first time all year, ‘concerns’ regarding the Bruins are growing.

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• The first issue: Boston’s power play. In what’s become a month and a half long slump of sorts, the Bruins have converted on just six of their last 60 power-play opportunities since Jan. 26. That 10 percent success rate gives the Bruins the second-worst power play in the league over that stretch (only the Flyers, at 8.1 percent, have been worse). The Bruins have also posted an 0-for in 13 of their 19 games over that sample size, and have gone a combined 0-for-23 on the man advantage in their seven losses over that 19-game sample.

  What I can tell you, though, is that power plays are often cyclical in nature. The 2022-23 season confirms as much, as the Bruins were clicking at a 27.2 percent success rate in their first 47 games of the season. Only Edmonton’s power play, which is led by the superhuman Connor McDavid, had a better power play than the Bruins over that span. And while there’s no McDavid on the B’s roster to save that unit, there’s also no denying that the Bruins have a comparable level of talent when considering the top unit as a whole, from Patrice Bergeron in the bumper to David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand on the elbows.

  The truth of the B’s power play is somewhere in the middle of their first 47 games and their most recent 19. I’m not sure it’s any more complicated than that, really.

  As for the Bruins failing to ‘look’ like the same team, the Bruins are in the absolute slog part of their schedule. I also think there’s a natural ‘letdown’ when you’re so close to the playoffs and you’re playing teams like the Red Wings and Blackhawks. I say that in two respects; Chicago and Detroit are rebuilders. The energy of those games is going to be feel significantly different than energies against playoff teams or teams fighting to make the playoffs. And players don’t want to risk getting injured in games that aren’t exactly top-shelf importance. It’s no secret that players talk, and the Bruins have already experience deadline season injury scares with Taylor Hall and Nick Foligno, and everyone is aware that Andrei Svechnikov is done for the year in Carolina. Even if they’re not saying it, everyone’s saying, “I don’t want that to happen to me.”

  But the one real issue this team has? The lack of answers as it relates to the defensive rotation.

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  Feb 28, 2023; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Boston Bruins defenseman Dmitry Orlov (81) celebrates his goal with teammates against the Calgary Flames during the first period at Scotiabank Saddledome. (Sergei Belski/USA TODAY Sports)

• Implemented by Montgomery & Co. following the team’s deadline addition of Dmitry Orlov, the defensive rotation has left the Bruins still figuring out exactly what they have on the backend. Now, I think they have four locks: Charlie McAvoy, Hampus Lindholm, Orlov, and Brandon Carlo.

  Carlo, of course, has been part of this rotation, but of the rotating members, he’s been the most solid. He’s also a foundational piece of the B’s penalty kill, and a second-pairing stabilizer of sorts. His spot is not in jeopardy.

  But when it comes to the other two spots — with Connor Clifton, Derek Forbort, and Matt Grzelcyk competing for roles — there’s a whole lot of unknown in the now. Namely because not one of those three players have planted their skate in the ice and said, “The hell you’re taking me out of this lineup.”

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  Feb 25, 2023; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Boston Bruins defenseman Matt Grzelcyk (48) awaits the start of play against the Vancouver Canucks during the first period at Rogers Arena. (Anne-Marie Sorvin/USA TODAY Sports)

• Back in January, Grzelcyk was playing the best hockey of his career. He was making superb plays at both ends of the ice, and was showing that he could do it with or without Charlie McAvoy to his right.

  But since the addition of Orlov, Grzelcyk has posted one goal and three points in seven games. He’s also been on the ice for five even-strength goals (tied for third-most on the team) despite logging a defense-low 22 defensive-zone faceoffs and a team-high 73.81 offensive-zone faceoff percentage. It also feels like Grzelcyk’s carelessness with the puck — or sometimes just plain rotten luck — has come back to burn him more than usual in the last 30 days or so. To be clear, Grzelcyk hasn’t been ‘bad’ per se, but the dip from what you saw in January is there.

  What helps Grzelcyk over the others: His transition from playing left to right has been, for the most part, a seamless one throughout his career. The Bruins have experimented with this, too, as they recently gave a Forbort-Grzelcyk pairing a glimpse. Now, the biggest issue for Grzelcyk when moving to the right and playing his off side: his neutral-zone play and the vision when it comes to making plays through that area of the ice.

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  Mar 4, 2023; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; New York Rangers left wing Alexis Lafreniere (13) shoots the puck while Boston Bruins defenseman Connor Clifton (75) defends during the second period at TD Garden. (Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports)

• Clifton, meanwhile, seems like a player who’s in legitimate jeopardy of losing his spot because both Grzelcyk and Orlov can (and have) played the right side throughout this defensive rotation.

  And because it’s been tough sledding for him since this rotation began in Vancouver.

  Deployed for just over 100 minutes of five-on-five action since Orlov’s debut, Clifton has been on the ice for a defense-high seven goals against. The Bruins have also been outshot 57-33 during this 100-minute sample with Clifton out there, and have been out-chanced 55-36. Now, some of that obviously comes back to Clifton’s usage — Clifton gets more defensive-zone responsibilities than a Grzelcyk or even an Orlov — but Clifton hasn’t exactly done himself any favors. The sequence that let to Chicago’s first goal on Tuesday night, which saw Clifton tagged with a season-worst minus-3 rating, was a perfect example of that.

  Clifton has also been on the ice for 4.19 goals against per 60 of five-on-five play (for comparison’s sake Grzelcyk is at nearly half that figure), and is also turning the puck over at a higher rate than Grzelcyk (1.8 giveaways per 60 for Clifton compared to 1.57 for Grzelcyk), and is getting thumped at a higher rate than Grzelcyk as well (Clifton’s absorbed 10.18 hits per 60 compared to 5.25 hits taken per 60 for Grzelcyk).

  It also feels telling that three of Clifton’s four lowest time on ice totals have come since the Orlov addition.

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  Feb 25, 2023; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Boston Bruins defenseman Derek Forbort (28) skates between play during the third period against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena. (Anne-Marie Sorvin/USA TODAY Sports)

• And as you would imagine, the struggles have been similar for Clifton’s most common partner, Derek Forbort.

  In fact, their number are almost identical. Forbort’s been on the ice for a defense-high seven goals against since the Orlov pickup, and the Bruins have been outshot by a 2-1 mark with Forbort on the ice (56-28). Again, usage is a factor (does Forbort ever begin a shift in the attacking zone? Not sure, but every time he is in there, it feels like he scores, so do the math on the infrequency of that usage), but if Forbort is not the defensive stopper the Bruins need him to be night in and night out, things get dicey when it comes to his game.

  But that may be why he’s the most secure of the three.

  The Bruins have turned to Forbort to be their penalty-killing rock all year long.

  Forbort’s 3:06 of shorthanded time on ice is not only tops on the Bruins, but it also makes him one of just 15 NHL defensemen averaging at least three minutes of shorthanded time on ice per game. And one of 55 defensemen to log at least 150 minutes of shorthanded time on ice this year, Forbort ranks fourth in on-ice shots against per 60, second in on-ice goals against per 60, third in expected goals against per 60, and fourth in high-danger chances against per 60. He’s also third in hits per 60 (8.06) and 22nd in shots blocked per 60 (9.89) among that group of 55.

  And for a Boston penalty-killing group that enters Thursday with a league-best 85.3 percent success rate.

  The Bruins have also experienced life without Forbort on their kill to some iffy results. When Forbort was on the shelf with a finger injury back in November, Boston’s penalty kill posted a 76.1 percent success rate, which ranked 19th in the league over that spell. With Forbort injured or scratched, the B’s have killed 39 of 51 penalties against (a 76.5 percent success rate). With Forbort available, however, the Bruins have killed penalties at a 88 percent success rate (147-for-167).

  That throws Forbort into the whole correlation vs. causation debate, I know, but that’s quite a sample.

  There’s also an obvious ‘trickle-up’ effect that comes with Forbort shouldering those penalty-killing minutes, as it reduces the amount of wear and tear on Lindholm and McAvoy. There’s significant value in that.

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  Jan 5, 2023; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Kings defenseman Drew Doughty (8) is checked into the boards by Boston Bruins defenseman Derek Forbort (28) at Crypto.com Arena. (Jayne Kamin-Oncea/USA TODAY Sports)

• Now, this may not be a ‘problem’ at all.

  The Bruins have been completely and fully transparent with their belief that they’re going to need all seven defensemen this postseason. History, both franchise-wise and health-wise when it comes to the players they’re going to lean on for what they hope will be a four-round run, says they’re right.

  But having an idea as to who will make up their own ‘original six’ may go a long way when it comes to starting this run off on the right foot, and proving that all these other issues are just a slight bump in the road.

  After all, as the first 60-something games of the season confirmed, it’s always better to have guys pushing one another and identifying your true best versus having to weigh who will hurt you the least.