The Boston Bruins find themselves in the opposite situation compared to their first-round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs. They are on the brink of elimination and have their backs against the wall, as the Florida Panthers are leading the series 3-1. The Bruins got the upper hand in Game 1 with a lopsided 5-1 victory, but things have gone south ever since.
The Panthers have won three games in a row, outscoring the Bruins 15-5. Simply put, that is less than ideal and if the Bruins want to crawl back into the series, they are going to need a better effort, especially at five on five.
With or Without Marchand, the Offense is Dry
Blaming the way officiating has gone in the series is taking the easy way out. When it comes to power-play opportunities, the Panthers hold the edge 21-9. It’s easy to say, “the Panthers are getting all the calls”, but special-teams play is not why the Bruins are losing. While it is something that largely contributed to their loss in Game 3, the reason for losing is due to their lack of offense and ability to generate offense. The Bruins had to play Game 4 without captain Brad Marchand, who leads the team in points these playoffs, so losing him was a massive blow and made life tough offensively.
Related: Bruins Dominated by Panthers in Must-Win Game 4
Entering the series, the Panthers were by far the more dominant team at five on five. During the regular season, they allowed the fewest shot attempts and allowed the fewest goals. Safe to say, that’s been evident in this series and with Marchand in the fold.
The Bruins are getting heavily out-attempted 160-102, and have the worst Corsi For percentage (38.93) in the first three games of round two. Furthermore, the Panthers pesky defense has turned into offense, as they are heavily outshooting the Bruins 74-47. Shot suppression is a huge thing for the Panthers and they are not giving up much to the Bruins offense. As for Marchand, even when he’s on the ice, the play in not in the Bruins’ favor.
When on the ice at five on five, Marchand is getting out-attempted, outshot, and has the fourth-worst Expected Goals For percentage (34.29) among the Bruins’ forward group. Not to mention, his line is getting caved in and outplayed. He has not been a large factor into the series, missing Game 4 and most of Game 3. If you thought life with Marchand was tough, life without him has been no better as the shortage of firepower isevident.
Despite the team starting off hot, the Panthers dominance was on display at five on five. The Panthers controlled the pace of the game, heavily out-attempting the Bruins 54-31 and dominating the shots on goal 28-13. They gave up nothing of high quality, allowing only five high-danger shots on goal. The Bruins have no answer for the Panthers’ defense and they will need star winger David Pastrnak to come through.
Offense Runs Through Pastrnak
The questions prior to the 2023-24 season are becoming more evident in this series. Can the Bruins’ new duo down the middle hold up their end? Do the Bruins have enough firepower? Safe to say, at this given moment those are both “no’s.” From a production standpoint, Charlie Coyle and Pavel Zacha have combined for one goal and nine points during the playoffs. As for Pastrnak, he’s been neutralized during this series.
In all situations, Pastrnak has four goals and eight points. During this series against the Panthers, Pastrnak has only two assists during five on five and has seen his lone goal of the series come on the power play. They need more out of Pastrnak if they are going to have a fighting chance to climb back in the series.
The Panthers’ defense has limited Pastrnak to six shots on goal and generating a measly 0.79 expected goals over the four games at five on five. With only five goals as a team the last three games, the lack of firepower is evident and they’ll need Pastrnak to come through once Game 5 arrives. Afterall, he did score 47 goals during the regular season and they’ll need that wicked shot of his to find the back of the net.
Bruins’ Offense Needs to Get Going
Yes the Bruins escaped Game 1 with a large win, but it was also on the backs of Jeremy Swayman’s 38-save performance. The Panthers took it to the Bruins, but they capitalized against a rusty team that hadn’t played in over a week. Being able to steal that game was huge, but they aren’t playing the “rusty” Panthers anymore.
The Bruins, whether with the captain or without, have been dominated offensively. Pastrnak stepping up is an absolute must but they need the depth to finally shine through. They do not have the weapons they had last season and it’s caught up to them in this series.