A west quest for unity
B’s aim to add to team goals
Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy oversees a Stanley Cup contender with four reliable lines, three stable defensive pairings and quality replacements getting seasoned in Providence.
Even with all those factors in place, team building remains a part of the Bruins growth process and the best place to explore this potential is on an extended road trip.
The B’s begin a fivegame swing tomorrow night in Vancouver that includes stops in Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto and Buffalo before returning to the Garden for six straight on home ice.
“I think that of itself is team building when you are on the road together and it’s been a while since we’ve been out west,” said Cassidy after practice yesterday.
The Bruins embark on their sojourn through Western Canada secure in the knowledge they can win in any barn in the league. They are 16-5-4 on the road with their last regulation loss a 5-3 setback at Nashville on Dec. 4.
That wasn’t the case when the Bruins set out on a West Coast trip on Nov. 15. The Bruins were 6-6-4 and coming off regulation and overtime losses in a home-and-home with the Maple Leafs.
Goaltender Tuukka Rask was in a funk, the roster was riddled with injuries and Cassidy was trying to integrate young players into the system.
The Bruins opened the trip with a 4-2 loss at Anaheim but won the next three at Los Angeles, San Jose and New Jersey. They went out to California with a lot of questions, but also found answers.
“This is much more what we are and what we look like,” said Cassidy. “Having said that, that trip I think was the beginning of us, you know, from ... I don’t want to use the term rock bottom because I don’t think we were there. But it had to do scouting out wins in what are typically tough buildings to win in, LA and San Jose and came back to win in Jersey. (Goalie Anton Khudobin) was in net and we were relying on some call-up guys and different guys contributed to get us going. That’s when our core really stiffened up and we got our heads above water and from there we kind of took off. So it was an important trip nonetheless. But it was long time ago and this is a different group and now we are in a different position.”
The Bruins regrouped after the trip with a 4-3 win over the Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins on Nov. 24 and went 5-2 over the next seven games.
“To come out of that over .500 and to just play against those teams and play the way that we did, that was a turning point,” said Bruins rookie winger Jake DeBrusk. “Over the course of a season there are multiple (turning points) but I think that was the one that got us going in the right direction. Then we got healthy and then we went on a roll. I like being on the road with the guys and hopefully we can keep it going.”
The roll DeBrusk referred to was the Bruins’ 20-2-4 record over the last 26 games that included Tuesday night’s impressive 5-2 victory over the Flames.
Did Cassidy think such a turnaround was possible?
“I’m an optimist, but, no, I didn’t think we would be here right now and that’s the simplest answer,” he said. “Now that we are here we have to keep staying here and keep playing better and win every game. That’s your hope and it is a good position to be in.”