The Bruins top line is off to an incredible start to the season
Boston Bruins forwards Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak are three of the best players in the NHL. Together, they are undoubtedly the best line in hockey.
There was a point last season when watching the Marchand-Bergeron-Pastrnak line became hockey’s version of enjoying some fine artwork. The three Bruins players seemed to know each other as well as childhood friends would on the ice.
Tough passes were routine, highlight reel goals became expected and production was cruising along at an NHL-best pace. Without injuries hampering their respective chances, both Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand were in the mid-season conversation for the Hart Trophy. Which is not in any way a slight to Pastrnak, who finished the season with 35 goals and 45 assists.
Many Bruins fans dubbed this line the “best line in hockey” and by season’s end, it was clear as to why. Each of the three finished with over 30 goals (Marchand – 34 in 68 games, Bergeron – 30 in 64 games). The three combined for 228 points over the course of the season, many of which were spectacular.
If anyone wasn’t calling the Bruins top line the best in hockey last season, they should be now. In the first three games of the 2018-19 NHL season, these three are showing why they are unmatched at the peak of the NHL mountain.
In only three games, Patrice Bergeron has netted four and helped on two more. He scored a hattrick in Monday’s 6-3 win over the Ottawa Senators. It’s way too early to start the “he’s on pace for” argument but this start is nothing short of magical for the 33-year old (who is on pace for 109 goals).
Marchand, perhaps the best scorer of the three, has yet to find the back of the net. His scoring production will likely come in due time, but until then he’s just going to assist on every goal imaginable. He has seven assists through the first three games of the season.
And last but not least, there’s David Pastrnak. The kid who’s age remains at 22-years old every season already has three goals and two assists this year. It’s tough to say that a player who has a couple of 30-goal seasons under his belt is going to have a breakout campaign, but David Pastrnak is only 22-years old.
Sure, all of this coming from a very excited Bruins fan only three games into the season. I would be naïve to not understand the casual fans apprehension at what I’m saying here but after seeing what they could accomplish last season, there’s no stopping these three, in their primes, from getting even better.
While the headlines will be dominated by how Tavares is playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs or the San Jose Sharks’ killer defense, the ice will be dominated by Boston’s top three.
Marchand. Bergeron. Pastrnak. The best line in hockey.