Bruins takeaways: Star players, power play ailing B’s during bad start

Bruins takeaways: Star players, power play ailing B’s during bad start originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The Boston Bruins ended their losing streak with an overtime win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night. It was a much-needed two points, but the real positive from that game was the team’s offense finally came alive and scored four times, including captain Brad Marchand’s first goal of the season.

It looked like the B’s were finally coming out of their doldrums.

And then Tuesday night happened.

The Bruins gave one of their worst performances of the 2024-25 NHL season in a 2-0 defeat to a bad Philadelphia Flyers team that came into TD Garden with a 2-6-1 record and a minus-13 goal differential. The Bruins trailed 1-0 entering the third period and were only able to generate three shots on net over the final 20 minutes of action.

The loss dropped the Bruins to 4-5-1 and into a four-way tie at the bottom of the Atlantic Division standings.

After a homestand that saw them lose 5-2 to the Dallas Stars, beat the Leafs 4-3 in overtime and then get shut out by the Flyers, the Bruins will now go on the road, beginning with Thursday night’s game versus the Carolina Hurricanes.

But before we look ahead to that matchup, let’s break down three key takeaways from the homestand that just ended.

Power-play struggles

The Bruins had a 5-on-3 power play for 97 seconds in the first period Tuesday night, with their top unit of Elias Lindholm, David Pastrnak, Brad Marchand, Pavel Zacha and Charlie McAvoy on the ice. Slow puck movement and an inability to get shots through to the net doomed the B’s and they ended up with only one shot on goal during this two-man advantage.

The Bruins tallied just one shot on net in nearly five minutes of power-play time against the Flyers. They went 0-4 overall with the man advantage. Boston scored only twice on 13 power-play opportunities during the three-game homestand.

A huge issue with the power play Tuesday was an inability to get shots to the net. The Flyers blocked a ton of shots, but the Bruins also made it pretty easy for them.

What can the Bruins do to get pucks through?

“Quicker puck movement,” Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery told reporters postgame. “If you move the puck quick enough and you’re thinking shot first, they’re not gonna be in shot lanes. They’re one less player. Especially 5-on-3, they’re two less players.”

The B’s rank 25th in the league with a 14.3 percent success rate on the power play. The Bruins need the power play to be effective because they are struggling to score at 5-on-5, where they rank 24th with just 15 goals in 10 games. So far, the power play has just added to these scoring woes.

Crisper puck movement, getting more traffic in front of the net and cleaner zone entries are all ways to get this power play back on track.

Who’s going to grab hold of second-line right wing?

The top roster battle in training camp and the preseason was for the second-line right wing spot alongside Charlie Coyle and Brad Marchand. No one really took hold of it, including top prospect Fabian Lysell, who didn’t make the Opening Night roster.

Morgan Geekie began the season in this role, which made sense given his dependable two-way game and offensive upside after putting up career highs with 17 goals and 22 assists during his first season in Boston. But Geekie has completely disappeared offensively to begin the season. He has scored zero goals with only one assist. He has tallied one or fewer shots on net in six of his nine games played.

Justin Brazeau found some momentum early in the homestand by scoring a goal against the Stars and Leafs before failing to hit the scoresheet versus the Flyers. He’s been held scoreless in five of his eight games, and he’s tallied more than two shots in just one of those matchups.

Matthew Poitras, Trent Frederic and Mark Kastelic have also taken shifts at right wing on the second line. None of these moves have worked out. Poitras is better suited at center, where he can tap into his impressive playmaking ability. Kastelic has been among Boston’s best players this season and has developed great chemistry on the fourth line with John Beecher and Cole Koepke. Breaking up the one trio that’s worked this season is risky.

Lysell has his shortcomings defensively — which certainly isn’t unique to him, he’s just 21 years old. But his dynamic offensive skill set is sorely needed on this Bruins roster. He has a great shot, he’s a talented playmaker, and his speed puts opposing defensemen on their heels. All of these skills would be welcomed on Boston’s struggling power play, too.

After such a dreadful offensive output against the Flyers, it’s time for real changes, and calling up Lysell from Providence is the best internal move the Bruins could make. If that doesn’t work, maybe it would be time for a trade to shake things up. But the best option right now would be to see if Lysell can provide a much-needed spark.

Top-six players need to show up

It’s hard to win when your best players are not consistently getting on the scoresheet. The Bruins were able to overcome this problem early in the season when the Beecher-Kastelic-Koepke fourth line was playing out of its mind offensively, but that was never a sustainable solution.

Elias Lindholm was the team’s big-money addition in free agency as a top-six center. But after a strong start that saw him tally five points in the first three games, Lindholm has zero points in his last six contests. Pavel Zacha has zero goals and one assist in the last six games. Brad Marchand has one goal in 10 games, which was the overtime winner against the Leafs over the weekend.

Charlie Coyle set career highs with 25 goals and 60 points last season. He has found the back of the net only once in 10 games. He also has zero assists. His four shots on net over the last five games combined simply isn’t good enough.

David Pastnak scored goals against the Stars and Leafs, and overall he has tallied at least one point in six of 10 games. He’s the only top-six forward who’s shown any kind of consistency.

“I think on every team, your best players — your star players — have to carry the weight offensively,” Montgomery told reporters postgame. “Those are the players out on the power play, and those are the players where the offense isn’t materializing for us.”