The Bruins have played better since firing Jim Montgomery and elevating Joe Sacco to interim head coach last week. But one glaring issue that has remained despite the coaching change is a lack of consistent goal-scoring.
In an NHL where speed and skill are absolutely essential to winning games for prolonged stretches, the Bruins fell short again and again during the 2024-25 season.
Tuesday night’s 2-0 loss to the Vancouver Canucks at TD Garden was just the latest example. And not only did the Bruins fail to score against the Canucks, the winning goal was tallied by Jake DeBrusk, whom Boston let walk in free agency after he averaged 23.6 goals over the last three seasons.
JAKE DEBRUSK SCORES IN HIS FIRST GAME BACK IN BOSTON! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/pX8t2E223J
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) November 27, 2024
The Bruins were shut out for the fourth time this season, something that happened just twice in 82 games last year. This shutout was a little different from the previous three shutout losses, though. The Bruins actually generated a ton of opportunities to score; they just couldn’t finish.
“We just have to start burying our chances,” Sacco said postgame. “I think we’re giving ourselves a chance to compete in games now. The guys are defending hard, but offensively we have to get some guys going and find their scoring touch.”
Here’s the final tally on important shot metrics (5-on-5 numbers in parenthesis):
- Shot attempts: 72-31 (57-23) Bruins
- Shots on net: 33-15 (25-12) Bruins
- Scoring chances: 36-11 (27-8) Bruins
- High-danger chances: 18-2 (13-1) Bruins
This heat map, via Natural Stat Trick, shows how dominant the Bruins were in the attacking zone (the more red, the better) and how nonexistent the Canucks offense was throughout the game, with the exception of one power-play goal.
“I think we’re creating a lot of chances,” Bruins defenseman Mason Lohrei said. “We’re playing the right way. It’s going to come.”
The Bruins played a nearly flawless game defensively. They gave up season lows in shots on net (12), scoring chances (eight) and high-danger chances (one) at 5-on-5. The Canucks were very lucky to leave Boston with two points after generating almost nothing at even strength.
“We just have to keep playing the right way,” Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy said. “We’re stressing defense in here, and we’re doing a great job of it. I think it has helped our offensive game; we just can’t score.”
The Bruins haven’t scored more than two goals in six straight games. They’ve hit the three-goal mark in just eight of their 23 games.
Will the dam break eventually? There are a few signs that it might.
In the three games since Sacco took over as head coach, the Bruins have a 187-142 edge in shot attempts, a 93-57 lead in shots on net, an 87-48 advantage in scoring chances, and a 37-13 margin in high-danger chances. They’ve scored only three times during this span despite tilting the ice so heavily in their favor.
But if the Bruins continue to generate shots and scoring chances at this rate, they will break through eventually. This roster isn’t loaded with elite skill, but there’s way too much talent for this group to rank dead last in scoring at 2.22 goals per game and have the worst power play with a 12.4 percent success rate. It’s also kind of surreal that the Bruins have played 13 home games and have scored just once in the third period during those matchups. That’s one goal in 260 minutes of third-period hockey on home ice.
But the Bruins can’t just wait for their shooting percentage to rise to a normal level. They have to keep attacking and create some of their own luck.
The list of Bruins players struggling to make an impact is long, and it includes many of the team’s top forwards.
Charlie Coyle scored a career-high 25 goals last season. He has four goals in 23 games. Pavel Zacha scored 21 goals in each of the last two seasons. He has three goals in 23 games. Trent Frederic scored a career-high 18 goals last season. He also has three goals in 23 games, and two of them came in a Nov. 16 loss to the St. Louis Blues. Morgan Geekie, who started the season as the second-line right wing, has scored only one goal in 18 games after finding the back of the net a career-high 17 times last season.
Elias Lindholm signed a seven-year, $54.25 million contract in free agency to be the Bruins’ No. 1 center. He has one goal in his last 19 games and zero assists in his last eight games. That’s a worrying sign for a player whose scoring is on pace to decrease for a third straight campaign.
Even David Pastrnak, who leads the team in goals (eight) and assists (11), hasn’t scored in his last five games and has two goals in his last 14 matchups.
The Bruins have made improvements defensively and on the penalty kill since Sacco took over on the bench. The team’s compete level and attention to detail have also improved. All of those factors have given the Bruins a chance to win games on a consistent basis, which is a positive step forward.
But those improvements won’t mean a whole lot if this team keeps struggling to score and can’t find any consistency on the power play. Scoring less than 2.5 goals per game and failing to generate any momentum with the man advantage is not a recipe for reaching the playoffs.
“We got a lot of guys who can score, and it’s a long season,” Lohrei said. “It’s going to start going in for us.”
