Playoffs at ACC special for Nash
BOSTON— Rick Nash is 33 years old, a 15-year veteran of the NHL, and on Monday he’s going to feel like a little kid again.
The Brampton native will take the ice with the Boston Bruins for his first NHL playoff game at the Air Canada Centre.
“It will be fun,” Nash said on the eve of Game 3 against the Maple Leafs. “I grew in the suburbs. I grew up a diehard Leaf fan. It’s always fun to go back home and play there, and play against them with all your family and friends there.”
Nash, the former Blue Jacket and Ranger, has played in the ACC plenty of times in the regular season, but never in the post-season. And if there’s a recurring theme for big games in Toronto, it’s been the local kid on the opposing team rising to the occasion. Last year, it was North York’s Tom Wilson of the Washington Capitals.
“It’s funny because playing in New York, it seemed like everybody got up to play in the, you know, greatest arena in the world,” said Nash. “I feel like Toronto has that same thing too, for the hometown guys. It’s always fun to go back there.”
The Bruins are up two games to none after dominating the Maple Leafs and while there’s well-deserved buzz for Boston’s top line of Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak, Nash has anchored a second unit that has also contributed in big ways. Nash, acquired from the Rangers at the February trade deadline, has delivered what the Bruins had hoped for. He uses his speed and strength to control pucks and the play. He’s physical and, at six-foot-three, a hard guy to move in front of the net. “He makes us more of a threat,” Boston coach Bruce Cassidy said of Nash. “He’s just a proven player in this league that can finish, that can win pucks and get to the net.”
With David Krejci and rookie Jake DeBrusk, the Bruins’ second line has easily outperformed the Leafs’ second unit.
“His impact has been tremendous, right from the first shift on,” said Bergeron. “His speed is something (the Leafs) have to be aware of.”
It should not be lost on Leaf Nation that Bruins GM Don Sweeney made the trade for Nash during Toronto’s 4-3 win over the Bruins on Feb. 24, two days before the deadline. Nash was an ingredient the Bruins lacked.
“The puck possession game that he has and the scoring ability that he has, I think he is going to provide those things,” Sweeney said at the time.
Nash brought back a big haul: top defence prospect Ryan Lindgren, a first-round pick in 2018, a seventh-round pick in 2019, 26-year-old Ryan Spooner and 29-year-old Matt Beleskey.
Nash tallied three goals and three assists in his first-11games, but then suffered a concussion on March 17.
“It really was frustrating,” said Nash. “Couldn’t think of a worse time to get one. I was finding my game. I was playing really well. With my linemates, we were moulding. Then that happened.” He returned on April 7. “Just trying to take it as it comes,” said Nash. “Three and a half weeks off, so it’s been a bit of a battle for me, trying to get my speed up. But when you win, it seems everything is going right.”