The Boston Bruins need their top stars to figure it out

After being the talk of the NHL’s regular season over the past two years, the Boston Bruins look like a shell of their old self.

The Bruins currently hold the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, just one point clear of the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Islanders, and two over another three teams.

David Pastrnak, in particular, has been a major source of criticism. He’s 63rd in the NHL in 5-on-5 points, and only just recently edged out fourth-liners Cole Koepke and Mark Kastelic for first on the team. Brad Marchand, meanwhile, has just four points at 5-on-5 – good for 11th on the Bruins.

So, what gives? The Hockey Show host Ty Anderson joined Daily Faceoff live on Monday to share some insight:

Tyler Yaremchuk: “It’s weird to look at them in the standings and be like, ‘OK, the record’s all right.’ 8-8-3. I know that’s below .500 wins/losses-wise, but it’s a .500 points percentage. There are concerns with this Bruins team that used to be synonymous with working hard. And then I read a quote from (coach) Jim Montgomery that says you can’t plan for a lack of juice. So what’s behind the vibeless efforts we the Bruins have been putting forth?”

Ty Anderson: “Sometimes a record is deceiving, right? 8-8-3. You can say, ‘Oh, they’re playing hard, but they’re not getting results.’ Like, no, that’s perfectly what this team is. They have, at no point this year, been two games over .500. Every time you think there’s a step forward, they suffer a loss that borders on humiliating the next game out. They just can’t generate momentum of any sort here.

“And it really begins at the top. In my opinion, guys like Pastrnak have not been the superstar players that we know they are. I mean, Charlie McAvoy, I’d include him in that grouping. His game is starting to come around a little bit, but out of the gate, it wasn’t the level it needed to be at for this team. So basically, right now, what you’re seeing is your top dogs aren’t pulling their weight. You saw it in St. Louis when they had that third-period comeback, but when the Dallas loss happens, that goes out the window. Saturday, they lose to a Blues team that’s missing four of their regular defenseman it feels like. So they just haven’t been able to build anything here.

“And I think that we talk about the top guys. But you look at the secondary cast: (Pavel) Zacha, (Charlie) Coyle, (Morgan) Geeky, (Trent) Frederic. Nobody’s pulling their weight right now, aside from maybe Joonas Korpisalo and the fourth line. That’s not typically a good recipe for success for any team, let alone the Boston Bruins.”