By: Tom Calautti | Follow me on Twitter/X @TCalauttis
The Boston Bruins needed increased production from their top line. Following a disappointing home loss to the Buffalo Sabres in Game 4 of their first-round playoff series, it was clear that changes were necessary to revitalize their offense.
The Black and Gold fielded a pretty consistent lineup throughout the first four games of the series. The only real change made to the forward group came before Game 4, when head coach Marco Sturm subbed in Lukas Reichel for James Hagens. One of the lines he continued to roll with was his top trio of David Pastrnak, Elias Lindholm, and Morgan Geekie.
One of Boston’s biggest issues in this series has been the lack of production from its top line. According to Natural Stat Trick, through the first four games, that unit has been out-attempted 45-23, outshot 17-9, and outchanced 26-9 across 34 minutes of ice time. With their backs against the wall and the season hanging in the balance, Sturm needed to make a change in order to get more out of his best players. Thankfully for the team and Bruins fans everywhere, he did just that.
The Bruins did not hold a morning skate before Tuesday night’s elimination game, leaving fans and media uncertain about the lineup until pregame warm-ups. Boston then unveiled a completely revamped lineup.
The biggest ‘changes’ to the team came on the third line and defensive pairs, where Sturm opted to slot in both Alex Steeves and Mikey Eyssimont as well as Henri Jokiharju. But the modification he made that had the greatest impact on the game came when he shuffled his top line.
Pairing David Pastrnak and Marat Khusnutdinov together wasn’t a complete wildcard for Sturm. In the regular season, those two spent over 530 minutes together and outscored opponents 34-18. Sturm has mentioned in the past that he likes the speed and forechecking elements of Khusnutdinov’s game, something Pastrnak’s line has sorely missed over the first four games of the series.
The more shocking lineup change came at the center position, where Sturm reunited fellow countrymen Pastrnak and Zacha on the top unit. That duo only played 130 minutes together this season, their lowest since they became teammates in Boston.
Zacha has been a stalwart on Boston’s second (and most) productive line all season alongside Casey Mittelstadt and Viktor Arvidsson. The Bruins’ coaching staff made a conscious decision to separate Pastrnak and Zacha before the season started in order to ‘spread the wealth’ on offense. When the chips were down and the lights were brightest, Boston’s head coach opted to reunite his two weapons and give his team their best chance to win. The results were impressive.
The Khusnitdinov-Zacha-Pastrnak trio led all Boston lines in ice time with 16:13 played at even strength. In those minutes, they out-attempted the Sabres 20-11, out-shot them 10-3, out-chanced them 13-4, got the better of the high-danger chances (6-1), and scored the overtime game-winner.
For the first time in the series, the Bruins had the most dominant line, which helped them force a return to Boston for Game 6. They now have momentum as they look to tie the series at three games each.
There are still some lineup questions Sturm will have to address before Game 6, namely, the health of Viktor Arvidsson. But given how they performed last night, and their dominance throughout the entirety of the game, it’s clear who should be skating on Boston’s top line for the remainder of this series.
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