Bruins' Top Half, Bottom Half of Lineup Tell Two Different Stories in Loss to Detroit

Last Saturday, on Oct. 28, the Boston Bruins held the Detroit Red Wings’ two best forwards, Dylan Larkin and Alex DeBrincat, without a point en route to a 4-1 win. Shutting down two of the top scoring forwards in the entire league was no doubt a major reason for Boston’s win.

When the two teams matched up a week later, this time in Detroit, the results were much different. Larkin had a goal and an assist, DeBrincat tallied an assist, and line mate Lucas Raymond had two points as well.

Despite holding leads of 2-0 and 3-2 at different points in the game, the Bruins let Detroit tie it each time before ultimately allowing three third-period goals and losing 5-4. It was the second time in as many games Boston gave up a two-goal lead, and the third time in the past five.

“We’re a young team, we got a lot of guys playing different minutes, even within our group,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery told reporters after the game Saturday. “Those minutes add up, and we just got to get used to it. I think we’re gonna see more of this (blown leads) than what we would have seen last year, just because of our group.”

Beyond Larkin’s line, David Perron led Detroit with three points (one goal, two assists) and JT Compher added two assists as well.

With the Bruins hosting last week, they were able to set the forward line matchups, allowing Charlie Coyle’s line to play a shutdown role on Larkin’s. This time, Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde had the control, and it became a tale of two halves of the forward group for Boston, which started Saturday in this lineup:

Brad Marchand - Charlie Coyle - Jake DeBrusk

James van Riemsdyk - Pavel Zacha - David Pastrnak

Trent Frederic - Matt Poitras - Morgan Geekie

Danton Heinen - Johnny Beecher - Oskar Steen

Montgomery has shuffled the lines all season, but Saturday’s top six carried the team. James van Riemsdyk and David Pastrnak each had a goal and an assist, and Pavel Zacha, Jake DeBrusk and Coyle each had a point as well.

Each line had a 5-on-5 Corsi For Percentage above 50, and the two lines collectively outshot Detroit 14-5 and created five high-danger scoring chances while allowing zero at 5-on-5.

“5-on-5, that’s what we want to play,” Coyle said ahead of last week’s game against Detroit. “We’re a good team [when] we play that. Because when you start taking penalties, some guys who don’t play special teams, they get lost in the bench.”

With Boston allowing eight power play chances against Detroit on Saturday, that could have been exactly what happened with the bottom six.

Matt Poitras had a goal and an assist. He was the only bottom-six forward to record any points, but his line allowed Detroit’s go-ahead goal in the third period. The two lines were outshot by Detroit 13-4, allowing six high-danger chances while producing none of their own at 5-on-5; pretty much the exact opposite as the top six.

Boston entered the third period with a 3-2 lead, but Detroit was able to hold off several Bruins offensive zone possessions and create quick rushes up ice, exploiting Boston’s inexperienced call-ups on defense – Mason Lohrei, Ian Mitchell and Parker Wotherspoon – to score two of their three third-period goals and ultimately pull ahead.

“I thought our defensemen played well,” Montgomery said. “I mean, when you’re missing the defensemen that we’re missing, it would have an impact in our poise to break pucks out, and our poise to transition pucks, defend our own net.”

On one hand, losing by one on a night when half the lineup wasn’t clicking could be viewed as ‘not the worst’ outcome. On the other hand, half the lineup wasn’t clicking. Period. Not to mention the team's recent pattern of blowing multi-goal leads. 

Until Saturday, the wins were still coming. Now, the response against the Dallas Stars on Monday will be telling about how concerning that should be.