Lindholm’s bounce-back helping drive Bruins’ winning surge in December originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
For the Boston Bruins to be a real threat in the Eastern Conference playoffs come spring time, they need Elias Lindholm to play like a legit top-six center in all three zones.
After a bit of a slow start to the season and some inconsistency throughout, the Swedish forward appears to be hitting his stride. And it’s no coincidence that Lindholm’s uptick in performance has happened at the same time that the B’s have strung together a bunch of wins, including an 8-2-1 record in December so far.
The Bruins beat the Washington Capitals 4-1 at TD Garden on Monday night. It was one of their best wins of the season, considering how well the Capitals have been playing.
Lindholm was arguably the best player on the ice and scored the game-winning goal in the third period. Brad Marchand made a great pass to Lindholm, who deked Capitals goalie Charlie Lindgren to put Boston ahead 2-1 with 6:10 remaining in regulation.
Lindholm won nine of his 12 faceoffs and played fantastic on the penalty kill, a unit that killed off a five-minute Capitals power play in the third period. He also was excellent defensively and at maintaining puck possession. His line with Marchand and Charlie Coyle had a 10-4 edge in shot attempts, a 5-0 advantage in shots on net, a 6-2 lead in scoring chances and a 2-0 goal differential in 9:34 of 5-on-5 ice time together versus the Capitals, per Natural Stat Trick.
Lindholm, Coyle and Marchand all scored in the third period. It was a masterclass of how to dominate the opponent in all three zones.
What’s making this line so effective?
“Three good players. They can all defend. They all have offensive capabilities,” Bruins head coach Joe Sacco told reporters in his postgame press conference Monday.
“They’re veterans and they’re experienced players. It’s a line we can use against the other team’s top lines. They can check. They can score. There’s a lot of balance there. You have two centermen on that line, and they are just playing well together right now.”
Lindholm thinks this line is starting to build some pretty good chemistry.
“We haven’t played that much (together),” Lindholm told reporters postgame. “Obviously, I’ve played with Marchand for quite some time now. Coyle is one of those guys who does a lot of things right. He’s strong on pucks making plays. He’s hard to play against.
“Us three together, we have some good chemistry I feel like. So far it’s been good. We just have to keep building. I wish we didn’t have the break and could keep going, but it’ll be nice to have Christmas here.”
The Bruins put Lindholm with David Pastrnak on the top line to begin the season and that connection just couldn’t produce or build chemistry. And even though it’s a small sample, it looks like the B’s have found something positive in the Marchand-Lindholm-Coyle line.
Lindholm signed a seven-year, $54.25 million contract on Day 1 of free agency back in July. He started the season strong with five points in the first three games. But then he didn’t score a goal over his next 17 games. After breaking that goal drought in a 1-0 win over Utah on Nov. 21, Lindholm went another 11 games in a row without finding the back of the net.
But over the last five games, Lindholm has been more consistent offensively. He has tallied at least one point in four of the last five games, with five total points (three goals, two assists) during that span. He has scored a goal in three of the last four games. Lindholm ranks No. 1 on the B’s in shots, No. 2 in shot attempts, No. 2 in scoring chances and No. 1 in high-danger chances over the last five matchups. So even when he’s not scoring, he’s still generating chances.
Lindholm is a very good two-way player. He plays in all situations, including prominent roles on the power play, penalty kill, and late-game scenarios when the score is close. So when he’s playing at a high level and doing it on a consistent basis, the Bruins are often a tough team to beat.
After a bit of a slow first two months of the season, Lindholm is looking a lot more like the player who dominated in Calgary, and that’s a very encouraging sign for the Bruins.
“We got through the West Coast trip and started feeling a little bit better,” Lindholm told reporters Monday. “Making a few more plays, feeling more confident. Everything is slowly getting better for me.”
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