Bruins' bottom-six coming up huge when it matters
Are the Bruins' bottom-six forwards about to get hot at exactly the right time of the season?
The Boston Bruins relied heavily on the trio of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak to win their first two games of the series earlier on. Game six seemed like a different story, with contributions coming from all the way down the lineup. Prior to game six, Boston forwards were actually a bit unlucky in terms of scoring. At five-on-five play, they had a differential of minus 2.27 expected goals, so the team had almost three fewer goals in the series than they did, which could be absolutely crucial in the postseason.
Game six saw ten different Bruins on the scoresheet, including four bottom-six forwards and three defensemen. Some of the regulars still contributed, of course. Marchand had a goal and an assist, and Pastrnak and McAvoy had one assist each.
One noticeable bottom-six forward was Charlie Coyle, who chipped in with one goal and one assist in the elimination game. He spoke to the media post-game and was asked if the depth forwards were feeling pressure from not producing:
"You always want to help out and produce. We just want to play the right way; that's all it is. No matter who you're playing with. Sometimes you don't know who's going to be on your wing or your centreman, whatever the case is. You just come ready to play and be yourself and do what you do well. You got to be able to do your job and do it well. We've [third line] played together a good chunk of this year, and we've had some pretty good spurts where we're playing good hockey and doing the right things ... we want to be a difference out there"
Coyle also discussed how hard it is for guys like Chris Wagner and Trent Frederic to come in and play after sitting a few, especially in the playoffs, and that even the guys who don't play every game are huge pieces of the team. Depth players are sometimes the ones who come up huge in big playoff games like the game seven on Saturday. Will a bottom-six Bruin be the difference and win this series for Boston?
Listen to what else Coyle discussed here:
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