Bruins Need Boost From Return of Marc Savard, Milan Lucic

by

Nov 18, 2009

Bruins Need Boost From Return of Marc Savard, Milan Lucic The best thing to happen to the Bruins in the last three games (and actually the last week, for that matter) is that Marc Savard skated on Tuesday before the Bruins' practice.

A message to the GM: Lock this guy up now, please. We've all had the great displeasure of watching life without Savy, and it isn't pretty.

Even the head coach thinks so.

"We have Marc Savard, who's the quarterback on our power play, that we obviously miss dearly right now," Claude Julien said after Monday's third straight loss, a 4-1 embarrassment to the Islanders. "There's not the confidence nor the determination that we need to have to be successful."

Lately the Black and Gold haven't even looked like they want to win. The Bruins need to search deep within and find some heart, some passion and some desire to win — and fast. The B's have allowed 10 goals in their past two games, have fallen to a surprising 8-8-4 mark on the season and look nothing like we expected them to look coming out of the gates.

Throw the expectations excuse out the window and just start to play hockey. Blake Wheeler joined Barry Pederson and me on Bruins Overtime Live Presented by AceTicket.com on Monday night after the team's loss to the Isles and said that he and his linemates had to learn to start having fun again. It showed against Pittsburgh, when Wheeler, David Krejci and Michael Ryder combined for five points (three goals, two assists) in a tough loss. The team better heed Wheeler's advice, because the other option has produced only a negative result.

"It stinks," Krejci said. "This is the NHL. You have two minutes for a five-on-three power play. You have to score a goal and we didn't. That's it."

The Bruins haven't capitalized on their power-play opportunities, they have lost their strong team D and their mistakes have been extremely costly on the ice, resulting in the Bruins sinking to 11th place in the Eastern Conference. What? That is not where the Bruins are supposed to be, and they know that better than anyone.

"You say, 'Eventually they're going to get out of it,' or 'You have to be patient, let them work themselves out of it.' You keep working with them to help them out," said Julien.

At this point, the best help the Bruins will get is not from themselves, but rather from teammates Milan Lucic and Marc Savard. Expect these two to have a huge impact on the team when they return. Not only will their presence boost the morale and confidence of this team, but their talent is sure to bring a flurry of points.

Savard is a playmaker, bottom line. He's incredibly gifted at getting the puck to his goal scorers, and he isn't too shabby at putting the puck in the back of the net himself. Lucic is a strong force to be reckoned with. He creates space on the ice for his linemates, scores goals and energizes his team night after night.

Make no mistake about it. The absence of these two missing pieces has been detrimental to the Bruins. And their anticipated return is the light at the end of the dark tunnel. One (Lucic) is already locked up, so get the deal done already for Savard.

If the playoffs began today, the Bruins would be on the outside looking in. And the thought of that just doesn't sit well in this town.

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