Boston Bruins: 5 players who need to improve in Stanley Cup Finals

Sam Minton

ST LOUIS, MISSOURI - JUNE 03: Brayden Schenn #10 of the St. Louis Blues celebrates his empty-net goal in the third period at 18:31 against the Boston Bruins in Game Four of the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Final at Enterprise Center on June 03, 2019 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

The Stanley Cup Final is tied up at 2 games and if the Boston Bruins are going to be victorious these players need to improve.

This series has been a rollercoaster for the Boston Bruins. One game they will look unstoppable and then the next they will look horrible.

The Bruins are still in the drivers seat even though the series is tied up at 2 games. Throughout the series they have looked much better than the St.Louis Blues. Boston has the talent, they just need to perform on the ice.

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There have been plenty of great players for Boston. Tuukka Rask has been bailing out his team left and right. If Boston does win the cup I am sure that he will win the Conn Smyth trophy.

The Bruins have also gotten some great play from their bottom 6 forwards. Sean Kuraly has been lighting it up and Charlie Coyle is a goal scoring machine.

But now it is crunch time. The series now is best of 3. Boston needs to play a complete 60 minutes and not let up. One mistake can completely transform the series.

There have definitely been some players that have struggled. Some of Boston’s stars have gone dark. These guys have to improve if the Bruins want to win and they will have to fast.

So here are the 5 Boston Bruins that need to improve if the team wants to win the Stanley Cup.

1. Brad Marchand

The Stanley Cup Finals and Brad Marchand do not have a good relationship. It seems that Marchand has never performed well in the NHL’s most important series.

Marchand has improved in 2019, but there is one part of his game where he is lacking. Marchand can’t seem to find the back of the net. He only has 1 goal so far.

2. David Pastrnak

The Bruins first line has struggled a lot in the Stanley Cup Finals and David Pastrnak has had some of the biggest struggles. After having such a great regular season this was quite the surprise.

Pastrnak is a streaky player to begin with. When he is hot it seems like he will never stop scoring, but when he is cold he can struggle scoring in an empty net.

The stat sheet for Pastrnak hasn’t looked good. He may have a goal and and an assist, but he has a personal rating of -4.

We have seen Pastrnak struggle a lot this postseason. He has looked like a completely different player on the ice. At times he has lost complete control of the puck and has been bailed out by Tuukka Rask too many times to count.

Pastrnak needs to start scoring or else the Bruins could be in trouble.

3. Jake DeBrusk

Another member of the Boston Bruins who had quite the regular season was Jake DeBrusk. He set a new career high in goals, but has struggled to find the net in the postseason.

So far in the Stanley Cup Finals, DeBrusk is scoreless. The only positive thing on his stat sheet is 2 assists. Besides that things haven’t been going well for DeBrusk.

DeBrusk’s struggles point to an underlying issue in Boston’s game. They need to rack up zone time and get to Binnington. The St.Louis Blues goaltender has shown that he doesn’t deal with pressure well.

When DeBrusk is working around the net he tends to do well. He is the king of deflections and knows how to redirect the puck with precision.

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If the Boston Bruins can get to the net and get Binnington off his game they will do just fine. Hopefully Jake DeBrusk can do his part.

4. David Krejci

Another 2nd liner has been having some problems in the postseason. David Krejci has been invisible since the Stanley Cup Finals began.

So far Krejci hasn’t registered a single point in the the Stanley Cup Finals. It is hard to get any worse than that.

It seems like the Blues physical play is getting to Krejci. The center is known for his great ability to enter the zone and make magic happen.

The Bruins need Krejci to show up. If he starts playing well we will start to see Jake DeBrusk and David Backes get some good scoring chances.

Krejci needs to do everything he can to get past the blue line and retain puck possession. Then the Bruins will get some good scoring opportunities.

With all the injuries to their defenseman, the Boston Bruins need their top lines to play well and start scoring. If not the Blues could be the ones lifting the Stanley Cup at the end of the series.

5. Charlie McAvoy

This series hasn’t been a terrible one for Charlie McAvoy but now he will be forced to improve. The Bruins need him to now more than ever.

McAvoy kicked off the series with a bang scoring a goal in Game, but since then he hasn’t done a lot. He hasn’t scored and has a personal rating of -2.

With the possibility of no Zdeno Chara and no Matt Grzelcyk for Game 5, the Boston Bruins will rely on McAvoy a lot.

McAvoy will have to be great in all phases of the game. He can’t get caught pinching in the Blues zone, but he can’t be too passive in the offensive game.

I have confidence in the Boston Bruins. I still believe that they will be victorious and will be lifting another banner in the Fall, but they need these players to improve. If not Bruins fans will be in for some long nights in the near future.

Sam Minton

Sam Minton is a graduate of Salem State University where he majored in Communications with a concentration in Journalism. He is a passionate sports fan with his favorite teams being the Boston Bruins, Boston Celtics, New England Patriots, New England Revolution and New York Yankees.