The Bear Essentials; Bruins can’t win without goals!

If the Boston Bruins do not make the playoffs in the 2009-10 season, they can look back and pin point the time where everything went wrong.  Ever since the Bruins victory at the Winter Classic against the Philadelphia Flyers they have been in a downward spiral.

The Bruins opened their February schedule on a similar note.  The Washington Capitals invaded the TD Garden and showed the Bruins why they are sitting pretty atop the NHL standings.  The Caps cruised past the Bruins with a 4-1 win handing the Bruins their eighth straight loss.

After picking up eight wins during December, the Bruins have been abysmal at home and haven’t picked up a win with the home ice advantage since their Winter Classic win.  Even Eastern Conference cellar dwellers Carolina Hurricanes easily handled the Bruins by a score of 5-1 on Jan. 24.

Currently the Bruins are sitting fifth from the bottom in the NHL standings and are set up to pick up two lottery picks, if the lottery was today.  But despite their troubles the Bruins have managed to stay in the playoff race.  The logjam that is the Eastern Conference sees only four points separating 6-13 place.

The lack of offense could be cited for the Bruins struggles as they only scored more than two goals three times during January.

Talks of landing Ilya Kovalchuk would certainly help the offensive struggles for the Bruins, but time seems to be running out to make a serious impact for the team, not to mention the mass amount of talent they would have to give up.  Names like Paul Kariya, Joffery Lupul and Ray Whitney have been mentioned as potential players the Bruins could make an effort to acquire.  It’s not that Boston doesn’t have the young players to give up; it’s just a question as to whether or not they are willing to sacrifice their future for a chance now.

I do not think that now is the time to make a run at Kovi.  They have shown that they have lots of issues to work out before they become a serious contender.  Clearly they have the pieces.  The Bruins penalty kill is tied for second with the Buffalo Sabres with a 86.7%.  They have only allowed 133 goals this season, which is good for fifth in the league.

Keeping goals out hasn’t been the problem.  Led by Tim Thomas, Zdeno Chara and Tuukka Rask the Bruins have one of the top defensive teams in the NHL, if not the best.  It has been putting the burnt biscuit in the net that has been.  The Bruins have scored a league low 125 goals this season.

The Bruins will have 17 players up for new contracts at seasons end; most notable names are Blake Wheeler, Andrew Ference, Mark Stuart and Mark Recchi.  Rex should be retiring at the end of the season, although the old engine still has some go.  The Bruins are going to without a doubt add some firepower if they once again want to compete with the bigs of the league.

The addition of one or two big scoring wingers could do wonders for this team.  The Bruins feature three playmakers in Patrice Bergeron, Marc Savard and David Krecji.   The sky is the limits for this team, but adding some offense is the first step to gaining back their feared reputation.

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