Bruins need improvement in forward group

As the Bruins were in the process of losing to the Utah Hockey Club 2-1 in overtime on Saturday, another development was taking place closer to home.

Fabian Lysell, the B’s 2021 first round draft pick and every dissatisfied fan’s current binky, produced a highlight reel goal in the Providence Bruins’ 4-2 loss in Springfield, turning a Thunderbird defenseman inside out before scoring his first of the year.

The reaction on social media was swift and predictable. Why won’t they bring Lysell up to Boston! Management hates the kids!

But while the reaction was typical in its hysteria, it is becoming more understandable with the way the current roster has been playing and producing offense.

The B’s were playing a Utah team that, though young and speedy, was ripe to be picked as they were coming off a four-game road trip. But the only goal the B’s managed was a Cole Koepke five-hole shot that – taking nothing away from Koepke (team-high five shots) – goalie Connor Ingram should have stopped.

Could an infusion of Lysell’s speed and skill help the Bruins’ right now? Maybe, maybe not. His overall body of work was in training camp, when he had a great chance to make the team, was merely OK – good one night, not so much the next.

But if this team’s fortunes really hinge on a 21-year-old wing’s promotion, then the B’s prospects for the 2024-25 season are not sparkling. This team should be better, and they desperately need their best players to get going.

The top line has been OK at times, but its been nowhere near as dominant as you’d expect the first line of a team with Stanley Cup aspirations to be. Patience is probably warranted in this case, considering a new centerman Elias Lindholm is still trying to create chemistry with superstar David Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha. But Pastrnak’s game has been particularly tepid lately. For the third time in the last four games, Pastrnak – usually a volume shooter – was held to just two shots on Saturday. More is needed from your big money ticket.

Captain Brad Marchand is still looking for his first goal of the season and has had just one shot on net in each of the last two games. He did make a good play on Koepke’s goal, he has a team-high four assists and he leads the league with nine drawn penalties, so he remains in the thick of the action. But perhaps in frustration of still having the goose egg in the goal column, he was caught trying to make something out of nothing in a bad area of the ice and nearly got burned for a goal in the third period Saturday. Only a successful coach’s challenge for offsides spared him that.

It doesn’t help that the search is still on for the line’s right wing, a job formerly held by Jake DeBrusk. Justin Brazeau got his chance to play alongside Marchand and Charlie Coyle on Saturday but Brazeau, such a promising story as a late bloomer last season, has yet to find his groove. The line looked it’s best in Colorado on Wednesday when Trent Frederic played right wing. Unless there’s an infusion of a body from Providence – veteran Tyler Johnson also remains an option – that could be the way to go.

Rookie Matt Poitras has shown some flashes but he’s been dealing with some predictable growing pains, and the turnstiles on both his wings isn’t helping much.

The only line that has been performing above expectations, of course, is what was originally thought of as the fourth line. After a practice at the Delta Center on Sunday, coach Jim Montgomery was asked if he would consider elevating Koepke, whose straight-line speed has helped to make him the B’s leading scorer through six games (3-3–6). Montgomery is thinking of a different kind of adjustment.

“I’m keeping the line together and maybe I have to start playing them 16 minutes a night instead of 12 and half like I have,” Montgomery told reporters.

While there are issues of chemistry on some of the lines, Montgomery is more concerned with the current level of engagement.

“I’m not happy with the puck pressure, especially,” said Montgomery. “We’ve always got to be committed to checking and right now I’m not seeing it. My job is to emphasize those areas when they’re not being attained.”

Montgomery is in some unfamiliar territory. In his first two seasons, he has amassed a combined 16-1-1 record in October.

“The last couple of of years we’ve gotten off to great starts and we’ve played fast. I don’t like the pace we’re currently playing with,” said Montgomery. “Being 3-2-1, you look around the league and that’s fine. The record I’m not worried about. The results I’m not worried about. It’s the process. And the process is not consistently to our desires right now.”

The goal, of course, is to be playing your best in the spring, not in October. But habits are established early on. Montgomery seems well aware he’s got work to do.