Bruins separate Bergeron-Marchand-Smith line at practice
The Boston Bruins' season is not off to the start that most envisioned for a club that won the Presidents' Trophy in 2013-14 and seemed destined to storm through the Eastern Conference unchallenged for at least one more year.
In the early going, Bruins coach Claude Julien is dealing with a depleted defense corps, uncharacteristically iffy goaltending, and an underachieving offense. So it shouldn't be a surprise that Julien is reaching for answers.
So what's a coach to do when the offense isn't producing and the blue line is, to put it generously, a patchwork? He fattens the forward group and hope for the best.
That's what Julien appears to have done at Bruins practice on Wednesday, as he's modified every forward line save for the Bruins' top group of Milan Lucic, David Krejci and rookie right wing Seth Griffith:
Lucic-Krejci-Griffith Kelly-Bergeron-Gagne Marchand-Soderberg-Eriksson Paille-Campbell-Smith/Fraser
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) October 29, 2014
Separating a pair of two-way forwards who have as much chemistry as Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron possess is a risky gamble, but Chris Kelly has been successful in the early going.
It's conceivable that this approach could give the Bruins three very good lines that might drive play. Also, for all of Boston's myriad early season issues, Reilly Smith on the fourth-line is an impressive luxury item.
Though it's understandable that Julien might want to try some things following the club's folding up shop in the third period of a 4-3 loss to the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday night, shuffling up the forward group is unlikely to be the balm that relieves Boston's issues.
After all, the Bruins - as they were playing in their first 10 games of the campaign - boast three forward lines controlling even-strength attempts at a rate near or above 55 percent. As Boston usually does, they're crushing teams at five-on-five, they're just being sunk by a lack of finish and bizarrely below average goaltending.
Presumably, a team with as much talent as Boston is going to get a greater share of bounces going forward, no matter how Julien constructs his lineup.
UPDATE: Marchand ultimately "tweaked something" during Wednesday's practice and left the ice surface. The Bruins are hopeful that he'll be ready to go for Thursday night's game.