If Tuesday stands as a test drive, Sturm and his staff should keep close tabs on a top line that has largely been stuck in neutral for months.
Sunday’s 3-2 victory had several positives across a reshuffled depth chart.
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Beyond the promise showcased by James Hagens’s debut, fourth-liners Sean Kuraly and Mark Kastelic combined for two goals and 5 points.
Joonas Korpisalo turned aside 33 of 35 shots against his former club to all but snuff out the Blue Jackets’ playoff hopes.
But Boston’s top line of David Pastrnak, Morgan Geekie, and Elias Lindholm once again did little to alleviate Sturm’s fears. In that line’s 12:07 of five-on-five reps Sunday, Columbus held a 19-9 edge in shot attempts while outscoring Boston, 2-0.
Any line anchored by Pastrnak — just a point from his fourth straight season with 100 — and a forward with a blistering shot such as Geekie should shred opposing defenses with regularity.
That potency was put on display in the 6-5 loss to the Hurricanes on April 7, when Geekie tallied a hat trick — all at five-on-five. But those salvos have been few and far between for a line that should decidedly tilt the ice in Boston’s favor.
In the Geekie-Lindholm-Pastrnak line’s 333 minutes of five-on-five ice time this season, the Bruins have been outscored, 19-16, with opponents holding a 187-154 advantage in scoring chances.
For those keeping track, a line of Pastrnak, Fraser Minten, and Marat Khusnutdinov has been on the ice for 15 Bruins goals — in just 188 minutes of five-on-five ice time.
Boston’s second line of Pavel Zacha, Viktor Arvidsson, and Casey Mittelstadt has outscored foes, 42-22, in its 583 minutes of five-on-five reps.
Sturm has remained steadfast in his belief in Pastrnak, Geekie, and Lindholm. But with time running out, he acknowledged Monday that the results will need to come before more drastic measures are taken.
“I still have a few options,” Sturm said. “I met with them today to go through some stuff — stuff they have to continue to do and stuff they have to fix, and we’ll see.
“For me, it will be an easy switch. But we need those guys … We’ve got to trust them, and yeah, hopefully they can be the difference moving forward.”
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One player who could factor into the equation if Sturm breaks up that top line is Hagens, who more than held his own in his NHL debut.
Even if several regulars are expected to draw back in Tuesday, Sturm confirmed that the 19-year-old Hagens will play.
As far as his status for the postseason?
“I will give him another crack at it [Tuesday]. He will be playing. And then we’ll decide,” Sturm said. “Who we’re going to play [in the playoffs], too, might be in play. You just never know. He’s definitely going to play [Tuesday].”
Hagens’s skating ability and creativity with the puck complemented a young line that also featured Khusnutdinov and Minten on Sunday. But if Sturm opts to reshuffle his lines, adding Hagens with Lindholm and Geekie could get the former’s legs moving — while granting a shoot-first winger in Geekie a skilled passer to play off of. The resulting domino effect would also allow Pastrnak to slot back with Minten and Khusnutdinov.
A confident and poised Hagens opens the door for Sturm to get creative if his forwards stall out in the playoffs.
“[Hagens] did excellent . . . He had some opportunities, and never was in trouble,” Sturm said. “So I was very pleased.”
Conor Ryan can be reached at [email protected].
