With trade deadline approaching, Bruins need to quickly right the ship
“If we have more injuries or we don’t do the job between now and the deadline, we may have to take a different path.”
As he watched his team scratch and claw for playoff positioning Wednesday night against the Rangers, Bruins general manager Don Sweeney clung to some optimism in a season where that has been in short supply.
Speaking on the TNT broadcast during the matchup at Madison Square Garden, Sweeney sounded like an executive hoping to avoid a reality where the Bruins plant a “For Sale” sign ahead of the trade deadline.
It’s uncharted territory for Sweeney, who — beyond an offseason sell-off of assets such as Milan Lucic and Dougie Hamilton in 2015 — has not had to pivot from the franchise’s win-now window.
But much like Cam Neely’s comments last month regarding the “two paths” management could take before the March 7 deadline, the patience that Sweeney preached Wednesday was undercut by the consequences that await if this team can’t right the ship in the coming weeks.
“It’s been a little unique for us this year, getting out of the gate not as fast as we would like,” Sweeney said. “We’re in the middle of things. It’s a tough exercise to sort of play both sides of the street, but that’s almost every year what a general manager is required to do, and test what’s out there, what’s available, how you can improve, hopefully.
“We have some areas we would like to, but we have to keep an eye. We’ve missed Hampus Lindholm all year, at least the last 40 games, and it’s affected our group. But everybody goes through injuries. You’ve got to battle through it, got to find a way while I’m out there trying to improve our club.
“If we have more injuries or we don’t do the job between now and the deadline, we may have to take a different path.”
A little more than an hour after Sweeney’s musings, a team he assembled did little to validate that hope of investing in another playoff push.
In one respect, the 3-2 loss to the Rangers stood as a bit of an outlier.
In a season in which the Bruins have squandered several opportunities, Wednesday marked a new “achievement” — standing as the first time that they failed to collect at least a point when leading after two periods (They are now 16-1-4).
But the manner in which the Bruins let 2 points slip through their grasp followed a familiar script. A day removed from a structured, professional performance in a shutout of the Wild, the Bruins once again let go of the rope away from Causeway Street.
The Bruins’ road woes have hindered their ability to gain traction. Since the holiday break, the Bruins are 1-8-1 in their last 10 road games — with the win an OT victory against the Panthers (Jan. 11) after relinquishing the tying goal with three seconds left in regulation.
“I wish we had the answers,” David Pastrnak said Wednesday of the Bruins’ struggles away from TD Garden. “I know we’ve had a lot of games at home … Definitely have to be better on the road, because we need every point we can get.”
Struggles on special teams continue to loom large for a Bruins squad with little room for error.
Vincent Trocheck’s tying goal at 5:27 of the third period came seconds after the Bruins killed a Brad Marchand penalty. Even with the Bruins’ penalty-killing unit technically finishing 3 for 3, they still rank 23rd in the league at 76.0 percent.
Boston’s power play has been far worse, ranking 30th at 14.6 percent.
The Bruins whiffed on all three of their power plays on Wednesday, landing just three shots on goal and generating zero high-danger scoring chances.
The Rangers made the most of their Grade-A looks over those six minutes, with Boxford’s Chris Kreider scoring a winning, shorthanded tally on Boston’s third power play, at 11:54 of the third. It marked the eighth shorthanded goal the Bruins have coughed up this season, tied for the most in the NHL.
The days of the Bruins trotting out a top-five power-play unit — featuring the likes of Torey Krug at the blue line and Patrice Bergeron at the bumper — are long gone.
But even a pedestrian power play would have the Bruins operating with some breathing room in a tight playoff race — with Boston 14-7-1 when scoring at least once on the man-advantage.
Yes, the expected return of Lindholm after the upcoming two-week break should bolster the Bruins’ defense.
But expecting Lindholm to further staple down Boston’s Jekyll and Hyde defensive structure and elevate a sputtering power play after being sidelined for more than three months is a sizable ask. And even if Lindholm has little drop-off, his presence alone doesn’t mitigate the deficiencies on a roster that is still likely short at least one top-six center and two scoring wingers.
Sweeney and Co. still have time to weigh their options before March 7. But with just eight games separating the Bruins from the trade deadline, a team short on skill and urgency is making the path forward easier for the brass to chart.
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