Bruins need more from Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, and Pastrnak

The Boston Bruins are down 3-2 in the Stanley Cup Final. To make a comeback, they’ll need more production from PatriceBergeron, BradMarchand, and DavidPastrnak.

The Boston Bruins find themselves down 3-2 in the Stanley Cup Final to the St. Louis Blues. This is the first time they’ve trailed in any series in the Stanley Cup Playoffs since the second round against the Columbus Blue Jackets when they trailed them 2-1. Though the referees have been bad, the Bruins aren’t trailing because of them. It’s because Boston’s “perfection line”, consisting of Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, and David Pastrnak, has been virtually invisible.

Through the first five games of the Stanley Cup Final, they have combined for zero points at five-on-five. David Krejci, Charlie McAvoy, and David Backes also have zero five-on-five points. It’s hard to win games when your best players aren’t playing like your best players. While they have six power-play points combined, ultimately, five-on-five is where most of each game is played.

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The lone even-strength point on the perfection line came courtesy of an empty net goal from Marchand. So in short, Boston’s three best forwards have scored zero non-power play goals with a goalie guarding the net.

You can blame the refs all you want. However, the Bruins aren’t getting things done. Sure, there were no fewer than two bad no-calls against the Blues in Game 5. However, Boston had three power-play opportunities, while St. Louis got just one. Yet they failed to score on each of those three power plays.

Let’s compare the Bruins top forward line to the Blues. Their top line is Vladimir Tarasenko, Jaden Schwartz, and Brayden Schenn. Combined, this trio has eight five-on-five points during the Stanley Cup Final. This series was always going to come down to who got more from their best players. St. Louis is winning that battle.

Pastrnak’s disappearance shouldn’t be too surprising. You can point to his 17 points in 22 games, which is pretty good. But those points don’t tell the whole story. Pastrnak has been wildly inconsistent, disappearing for long periods. Aside from his points, he’s barely been noticeable in the postseason.

All that said, there is a reason for optimism for Bruins fans. The perfection line might not be scoring, but they’re still controlling play. Natural Stat Trick has the trio with a 56.42% expected goals for percentage at five-on-five.

It’s easy to point at the bad calls if you want something to blame for Boston being one game away from elimination. But the easiest excuse is rarely the best one. It boils down to the Bruins not getting enough from their best players.