The Boston Bruins’ need for a defenseman was exposed once again in a royal collapse Sunday night during the Stadium Series at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.
Boston was comfortably leading 5-1 at the midway point of the hockey game, before the Lightning scored four unanswered goals to force overtime, They then won in a shootout.
This past week, we discussed the possibility of Justin Faulk going to Boston from the St. Louis Blues. Those talks are expected to intensify now. Another blueliner the Bruins may be interested in is Winnipeg Jets defenseman Logan Stanley of Kitchener, Ontario.
Tied For Biggest Comeback This Season
The Lightning comeback on Sunday was tied for the biggest comeback in the NHL this season.
On October 25, the Detroit Red Wings were down 4-0 to the St. Louis Blues, and then they scored six unanswered goals en route to a 6-4 win. Then on December 13, the San Jose Sharks were down 5-1 to the Pittsburgh Penguins, before scoring five straight goals in a 6-5 win.
Which Defenseman Can Help Bruins Right Now?
Justin Faulk
Faulk is a veteran defenseman with 15 years of NHL experience. He has been showing some offense recently as he has four points in three games.
Two of the points came in an impressive 5-4 Blues win over the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers on Thursday as Faulk set up Jonatan Berggren of Uppsala, Sweden and Oskar Sundqvist of Boden, Sweden. In both goals, Faulk had the lone helper.
Logan Stanley
Stanley is a different kind of defenseman compared to Faulk. He traditionally has had less offensive upside. However, this season we have seen a rapid increase in Stanley’s value.
The reason is because he has eight goals after scoring only five goals in his previous five NHL seasons combined. Stanley is known for his hard hits and blocked shots. In 53 games, he has 86 hits and 66 blocked shots.
Who Are The Underperforming Bruins Blue-liners?
Hampus Lindholm of Helsingborg, Sweden is a minus-10 this season for the Bruins. That is a significant drop in production as Lindholm led the NHL with a plus-49 while with the Bruins in 2022-23. Boston has also had a disappointing season defensively from Andrew Peeke of Parkland, Florida, who is a minus-8.
The news is not all bad for Lindholm, however. That is because this past week Lindholm was named to the Swedish Olympic team as an injury replacement for Minnesota Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin.
Lindholm is one of two players added to Team Sweden. The other is Wild forward Marcus Johansson, who is replacing Leo Carlsson of the Anaheim Ducks.
