Cassidy not happy with Krug’s play
BRUINS NOTEBOOK
WASHINGTON — Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy was critical of defenseman Torey Krug after last night’s 4-3 shootout loss to the Capitals. Krug took the penalty that led to Alex Ovechkin’s game-tying power-play goal and had a bad giveaway.
“Torey needs to be cleaner with the puck and have more pace to his game,” said Cassidy. “That’s what we feel. That’s when he’s at his best, when his gaps are good, he’s killing plays and helping in transition. I think lately the gap has been the issue for him for whatever reason.
“We’ve got to get him back up in the play, being assertive. Because I don’t think he can sit back and be an effective player, a defensive defenseman. He’s got to get up and start being more assertive with his feet.”
Krug also got 7:12 of time on the B’s power play, which was a costly 0-for-5. He had five of his six shots attempts blocked.
Chemical cohesion
From Day 1 of training camp every season, NHL teams try to find “chemistry” within their forward lines. Trying to define that term precisely is difficult, maybe impossible. Yet when you see a threesome that actually has that elusive quality, it’s easy to recognize.
The third line of Riley Nash, David Backes and rookie Danton Heinen delivered more of what it brought in Wednesday’s 5-1 rout of Ottawa.
The three guys on the line, whose styles, skills and work ethics seem to mesh so well, merely scored four of the B’s five goals on Wednesday. Last night, Backes added two more goals, with Heinen picking up assists on both of them.
“They’re all responsible players, of different ages, at different stages of their careers,” said Cassidy. “They all have good complementary pieces to fit together, yet they still understand that they need to be good away from the puck.
“Usually when that happens, you’ll get the puck more. Defense leads to offense. So when you put those things together, it’s been a good reason (the line has worked so well). ”
Fighting words
In the wake of Kevan Miller’s convincing fight in reaction to Fredrik Claesson’s hit to Noel Acciari’s head on Wednesday (which earned Claesson a twogame suspension), Cassidy spoke about the fighting issue, on whether it has a place in the NHL game:
“It’s not for me to judge, but I do think there’s value at times,” he said. “Because if not, you do see the headshots. The stick-work goes up if there’s no accountability. That is always the argument: (Would) the game go the other way where people are running around with no accountability, no risk of retribution.
“I think (fighting) will always go on until someone changes it. For me personally, growing up with it, I see the value in it. Younger guys who didn’t grow up with it may not see the value in it.”
Still on mend
Center David Krejci (undisclosed injury) and defenseman Adam McQuaid (coming back from a broken leg) remained out of action last night, but both appear very close to returning to the lineup.
In the case of McQuaid, his continued absence may be a reflection of how well the Bruins current six blueliners are playing . . . .
At age 32, Capitals winger Ovechkin remains one of the NHL’s best players.
His power-play tally took him to 24 goals on the season, tying Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov for the NHL goal-scoring lead, while giving him 38 points in 39 games.
Ovechkin is in Year 10 of a remarkable 13-year, $124 million contract signed in January 2008. He makes $10 million this season, and will earn the same in each of the final three years of the pact.