Grzelcyk welcomes his chance
BRUINS NOTEBOOK
Torey Krug, suffering from an upper-body injury, will miss his third straight game tonight in New Jersey. To perhaps replicate what the defenseman does, the Bruins recalled Matt Grzelcyk from Providence, and he traveled with the team to New Jersey.
“He’s a puck mover, he’s quick, he gets up the ice to support the rush. He’s a good distributor. There are a lot of similarities to Torey,” said coach Bruce Cassidy. “Torey, at this level and even in his first year in the American (Hockey) League, is a more dynamic offensive player and we’re still looking for that from Grizz. Whether it’s in him or not, time will tell. We believe it is. We just have to get it out of him.”
Grzelcyk has given hints that he’s ready to show it. With Krug out with a broken jaw to start the season, the Charlestown native won the three-man competition with Robbie O’Gara and Paul Postma in training camp to be Krug’s fillin. Then on opening night, he played a very good 12:11 in the victory against the Nashville Predators before Krug was activated for the second game and Grzelcyk became a numbers victim.
“It was huge,”said Grzelcyk. “Just mentally knowing that I feel I can play in the NHL now and I think just going through that experience was definitely a positive.”
What did he think clicked?
“Mentally, just not being nervous,” said Grzelcyk. “I think my first year I was a little too nervous, a little tentative with my game and I don’t think that’s when I’m playing my best. I’m confident with the puck and confident with my skating ability. Going out on the ice and actually doing it I think was huge for me.”
Grzelcyk had four assists in 14 games in Providence. When he first went down, Grzelcyk felt he was trying to do too much but now feels better about his game after ratcheting it up a bit.
Was it difficult being sent to Providence after playing a pretty good game at the NHL level?
“Obviously, you want to play in the NHL, but as long as you don’t take it as a negative going down,” said Grzelcyk. “I think I was able to go down there and work with the coaches and work on my game. It can be a little bit of a positive because you get to play more minutes. As long as you have the right mindset, I don’t think it’s too much of a negative.”
Spooner near ready
Ryan Spooner, who suffered a groin injury on October 15, participated fully in practice, including working with the first power-play unit. A decision to play will be made after the morning skate. In practice, the forward was on a line with Riley Nash and Frank Vatrano.
“I felt good. It’s the first practice I had in five and a half weeks, but I felt fine, so that’s good,” said Spooner, who has been skating for the last three weeks. “The longest I’ve been out has been like three and a half weeks, so it sucks. I’ll be excited to get back.”
Also, left winger Brad Marchand, who has missed five of the last seven games with a concussion, skated but did not travel.
“It’s frustrating whenever you have to miss games and miss time away from the team,” said Marchand. “It’s disappointing, but the guys had a great road trip and are playing well. It’s fun to watch. But it’ll be nice to be in the lineup consistently and be a part of the team again, but it’ll come.”
Cassidy said forward Anders Bjork (undisclosed) will be out the rest of the week. He did not skate.
Least in the East
The B’s are still looking for their first win against an Eastern Conference team. They go into the matchup against the Metropolitan Division-leading Devils (12-5-3) with a 0-3-3 mark against the East.