Bruins' Top Line Confident They Can Break Out In St. Louis
BOSTON (CBS) -- It's been pretty well documented that the Bruins' top line is slumping to start the Stanley Cup Final. After being one of the most dominant lines during the regular season, they have looked anything but over the first two games against the St. Louis Blues.
Patrice Bergeron, David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand usually pack a powerful punch for the Bruins. After tallying 106 goals in the regular season, the trio had accounted for 23 of Boston's 32 goals heading into the Cup Final.
But over the first two games against the Blues, the line has just one point together -- an empty-net tally by Marchand -- struggling to do much of anything against St. Louis' gigantic top defensive duo of Jay Bouwmeester and Colton Parayko.
Usually when Boston's top triad isn't scoring, they're at least locking down the opposition's top line, making the matchup a wash. But that hasn't been the case either over the first two games, as they've been on the ice for three of St. Louis' five goals this series. Both Bergeron and Marchand check in at a minus-2 for the series, while Pastrnak is at minus-3. Bruce Cassidy has even thrown out Boston's fourth line against St. Louis' top attackers, with Sean Kuraly's crew fairing much better against the trio of Vladimir Tarasenko, Brayden Schenn and Jaden Schwartz.
Boston's top line knows they need to be a lot better than what they've shown over the first two games. With the Cup Final tied up at 1-1 as it shifts to St. Louis, their leader is confident that they can break out in a big way this weekend.
"For us, it's about being better," Bergeron said Thursday. "We've dealt with this these playoffs with different lines, and it's no different. You look at video and you look at tendencies, but we also know how we can play and play the right way. It's about simplifying and taking care of the puck in our own zone before taking off for our offense."
Bergeron added that the changes needed aren't anything drastic.
"Just play an overall better game, basically," he said. "I don't think there is 50 things that need to be better, it's just play a little more our way, our style, like we did in Game 1."
"Yeah, we need to be better," Marchand admitted after his rough showing in Wednesday's Game 2 loss. "Personally, I wasn't good the last two games. We can't be playing like that."
Slow starts are nothing new out of the three this postseason. They were a minus-6 in the first three games of the playoffs against the Toronto Maple Leafs, and Cassidy actually split them up to start Game 4. But they were back together later that game, and Pastrnak responded with a pair of goals, both of which were assisted by Marchand in a 6-4 Boston victory. By series end, the trio had combined for 20 points (nine goals, 11 assists) as the Bruins dispatched the Leafs in seven games.
In the second round against the Columbus Blue Jackets, only Pastrnak registered a point over the first three games as Boston went down 2-1. Then the triumvirate found the back of the net six times over the next two games to give Boston control of the series. Like the rest of the Boston roster, the top line had no issues in the B's sweep of the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Finals.
So there's plenty of reason to believe the group will bust out of their slump, even with the next two games in St. Louis. They have led the Bruins all season, and everyone on the roster is confident they'll do just that going forward.
"They've always found their game and don't go very long without being a factor," Cassidy said Thursday. "I suspect in Game 3 we'll see their best game of the series."
