The Boston Bruins’ 2024 Stanley Cup Playoff aspirations are fizzling quickly and could end sooner than later if things don’t change. From top to bottom, the team needs improvement and it’s clear that something has to give against an excellent Florida Panthers team who played in the Stanley Cup Final just one year ago after eliminating the Bruins’ in the opening round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs. One change that seems necessary but not imminent is bringing Parker Wotherspoon back into the lineup in place of Derek Forbort.
Forbort, who hadn’t been in the Bruins lineup since March 2, would make his return to the team two full months later in a winning effort against the Florida Panthers in Game 1. To Forbort’s credit, he’d log 18:03 of ice time, six hits, two blocked shots and played exactly the role the Bruins want from him when he’s in the lineup. Unfortunately, the return-game heroics would wear off quickly as he’d look lost at times in the following two games in a way that was clearly more detrimental than positive for the Bruins. Admittedly, Forbort was far from the team’s only problem in these games and he shouldn’t be solely responsible for shouldering the blame; with that said, his role as penalty-killing specialist isn’t getting the job done as the Panthers have scored six power-play goals in the past two games.
Wotherspoon Provides Better Value Than Forbort Right Now
Bringing Forbort back into the fold after the expectation was that he could and likely would miss the remainder of the 2023-24 season entirely was a bold move in and of itself. It paid off, but now it feels like the Bruins have seen enough evidence that Forbort may not be ready to compete at this stage. Again, Forbort isn’t the only issue with this team, but he is one of the weak links and Wotherspoon, a player who has more than earned a spot in this team’s lineup, would directly replace him on a pairing with Andrew Peeke to change some of the dynamics of this team’s play.
With Brad Marchand deemed day-to-day with an upper-body injury following his departure from Game 3, and Linus Ullmark seemingly penciled in as the starter for Game 4, there are already changes being made to the Bruins’ lineup. Danton Heinen also could be in line to return to action as he skated with the third line at practice Saturday. Forbort and Peeke remained on a pairing together with Wotherspoon and Kevin Shattenkirk forming a fourth pairing and Matt Grzelcyk seemingly remaining out of the fold.
In a physical series like this one, it makes sense that head coach Jim Montgomery would want to keep size and physicality in the lineup. Grzelcyk not playing makes sense if that’s the justification, but Wotherspoon at 6 foot 1 and 195 pounds is more than big enough to make an impact; even if he’s smaller than the 6-foot-4, 208-pound Forbort. Additionally, size is one factor to consider, but the Bruins’ inability to get shots on the net due to what seems like a quality-over-quantity dilemma has reared its ugly head far too many times in recent weeks for a team that’s looking to compete for the Stanley Cup. Forbort provides nearly zero offensive upside and the defense isn’t up to par right now. Wotherspoon’s offensive contributions may not show up on the score sheet, but his puck skills and skating abilities make him more of a puck-moving threat than Forbort.
At this point, Montgomery has to do something to stop the bleeding before it’s too late, and tying the series up after losing by a combined score of 12-3 in the past two games would be a major momentum shift in favor of the Bruins. The Bruins finished Game 3 strong but will need to show a better complete effort in Game 4 if they have any hope of keeping their series dreams alive.
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