BOSTON — The Boston Bruins gained one point on Saturday against the St. Louis Blues in their 3-2 overtime loss. It was one more than they deserved.
The Blues outshot the Bruins, 31-17. A handful of Joonas Korpisalo point-blank stops kept St. Louis from running up the score. Trent Frederic, who had gone 17 games without putting the puck in the net, was the only Bruin with a goal (two, both at five-on-five).
By all measures, the Bruins did not do enough at either end of the ice.
“We lost it in Dallas and it was not there today,” coach Jim Montgomery, referring to the Bruins’ defensive game in Thursday’s 7-2 blowout. “Offensively, we haven’t been there all year.”
What, then, does that make the Bruins other than bad all around?
The Bruins have a minus-17 goal differential. Only three other teams are worse: the Pittsburgh Penguins (minus-26), Montreal Canadiens (minus-24) and San Jose Sharks (minus-21).
The Canadiens (12 points) are the worst team in the league. The Sharks (13) are only one point clear of the Canadiens. Pittsburgh has 15 points and has already started selling, Lars Eller being the first player to go.
That the Bruins are in third place in the Atlantic Division with 19 points is an illusion. Montgomery does not have enough fingers for the dike, which seemingly springs different holes every game.
There is, however, one constant through this 8-8-3 season: too many underperforming players, stacked one upon each other in an ever-growing pile.
Consider that Brad Marchand and Elias Lindholm, two-thirds of the No. 2 line, combined for zero shots on Jordan Binnington. Marchand looked like what he is: a high-mileage 36-year-old without a summer of proper training. You could say Lindholm is what he is too, at least through his first 18 games as a Bruin: a complementary center instead of a line-driving pivot.
Every team will have one or two players misfiring at one time or another. The issue with the Bruins is how so many pockets of the roster fall over their feet concurrently. Pavel Zacha, the No. 1 center, had zero shots on Saturday. Morgan Geekie, the No. 1 left wing, had one.
David Pastrnak put four pucks on net. It is hard, however, to recall any of them qualifying as threatening.
“We didn’t have a lot of juice in the tank today,” Montgomery said. “I don’t know why we didn’t. Yesterday we flew home. We stayed over in Dallas so we would have proper sleep to enable us to have legs for today. We had legs in the first. Kind of fell off after that.”
A rare Frederic sighting went to waste. Frederic, whose first and only goal before Saturday was in Game No. 1 against the Florida Panthers, scored twice by doing what he’s required to do: go to the net.
On Frederic’s first goal, Georgii Merkulov initiated the sequence with a clever one-touch pass. Merkulov, recalled on Saturday, originally thought about popping out to the right circle to one-time a Coyle pass on net. But at the last moment, Merkulov changed his mind after spotting Frederic open out front. Merkulov heeled the puck to Frederic for a quick strike, tying the game at 1-1.
Merkulov is a natural center. But the Bruins are so desperate for offense that they moved him to No. 3 left wing. He did not look out of position on Frederic’s goal.
“You’re trying to know what to do with the puck before you get the puck,” said Merkulov. “I was popping off for a one-timer. But I saw Charlie looked at me right away. So I stayed close to the net.”
On his second goal, Frederic timed his net-front arrival just as Mason Lohrei blasted a one-timer on goal. Binnington had no chance to deny Frederic’s deflection.
“He was in the right spots,” said Montgomery. “That’s where Freddy needs to be, in the net front.”
Don Sweeney is trying to improve the team. The general manager also recalled Riley Tufte on Saturday. Sweeney assigned Patrick Brown to Providence. Meanwhile, Montgomery made Johnny Beecher a healthy scratch.
But these are fringe transactions. They will not move the needle.
The Bruins need more from their go-to players for a real turnaround. Whether that’s coming remains to be seen.
(Photo: Winslow Townson / Imagn Images)
