By: Ryan Jainchill | Follow me on Twitter / X @Jainchill_Ryan
Boston Bruins forward Elias Lindholm’s second season in the black and gold has not been ideal. With 14-29-43 in 58 games, much more was expected from the Swedish forward who was brought in to be the team’s number one center. In particular, since returning from the Olympic break and before the team’s last two contests, he had only 1-2-3 in 12 games, with his lone goal being an empty-netter.
Coming into the season, Lindholm came in as the first-line center with Morgan Geekie and David Pastrnak. This season, according to Natural Stat Trick, the trio has played together for 52 games but was recently split up to try to give the Bruins a bump. Lindholm and Geekie were relocated down to the third line, alongside a rotating cast of Michael Eyssimont, Alex Steeves, and newly acquired Lukas Reichel.
For Lindholm, a big struggle this season has been scoring goals at even strength. He didn’t score a goal at five-on-five until December against the Winnipeg Jets. Last season, his first in Boston, he had 14 even-strength goals and only two on the power play. Now, his split is eight and six, and while good for the team’s power play, only having eight even-strength goals, a total that is tied with defenseman Charlie McAvoy and fourth-line winger Mark Kastelic, is not enough for a top-six center.
Lindholm’s calendar year of 2026 has seen him total 8-10-18 in 27 games. Six of those goals have come at even strength. But the inability to rack up points while playing on the top power-play unit and spending most of the season on a line with the Bruins’ two leading scorers is troubling to many.
But things look like they’ve turned a corner. After seven games without a point after burying an empty netter in a 3-1 win over the Washington Capitals, Lindholm was able to knot the game up at two with the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday, and after taking the lead, he won a key faceoff in his own end to set up the empty netter, which led to the Bruins’ first road regulation win since January.
Last night, in a disappointing and possibly season-altering loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, Lindholm won a board battle back and took off. After a fortuitous bounce, he and Geekie mozied in two-on-one, leading to Lindholm riffling one past the blocker of the Leafs’ goaltender, Anthony Stolarz, for his second goal in as many games.
Could this be the start of a late-season hot streak? If last season is any indication, the answer is possibly yes. To end the Bruins’ worst season in nearly 20 years, Lindholm, now being put fully with Pastrnak and Geekie, had 4-4-8 in the team’s final eight games of the season, including a three-game goal streak.
After the 2025 trade deadline, a stretch that saw a 10-game losing streak, he had 6-8-14 in 26 games, and his line was perhaps the only bright spot in the aftermath of one of the most infamous days in team history. His linemates during that stretch combined for 22-28-50 in those 26 games despite the team’s struggles.
Could Lindholm recapture that end-of-season magic and help the Bruins make the playoffs? Possibly. But what would that take? Does it take a reunion with Geekie and Pastrnak as we saw at the end of the game last night? Does it take the rotating cast of third-line left-wingers to finally stabilize? Does it take one highly-touted prospect who recently signed an Amateur Try Out in Providence to establish himself and sign his Entry Level Contract? Fans likely hope for the last option.
Overall, Lindholm finding his game in this crucial stretch of play is paramount for the Bruins’ success. Without production from him, no matter who his linemates are, the team will struggle, as we have seen for stretches this season. While Lindholm is not the player who is going to set the world on fire with a massive hot streak, sustained production goes a long way if the Bruins want to keep hold of a Wild Card spot.
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