Backes at center of it all
Bruins forward David Backes is rediscovering aspects of his game that were discarded when he left the St. Louis Blues.
Backes switched from right wing to center on the Bruins’ reconfigured third line and performed his du- ties diligently in Thursday night’s 8-4 dismemberment of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
He will find himself in the same position when the Bruins host the Montreal Canadiens today.
“I don’t know if I’ve gone back in time,” said Backes, who signed as a free agent with the B’s in 2016 after 10 seasons with the Blues.
“Maybe it’s a steep learning curve right into the present mix, and it felt better in the second game than it did in the first. Hopefully that trend continues. But you can’t argue with the results from an 8-4 win.”
Backes was removed from his comfort zone at right wing in the fallout of the recent injury to first-line center Patrice Bergeron, who is out for a minimum two weeks with a fractured right foot.
Riley Nash was upgraded to the first line with Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak, leaving a void in the middle of the third unit. Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy is counting on Backes to fill the vacancy with quality minutes until Bergeron’s return.
“It’s a huge (adjustment) especially under a bit of a new system and a little more thinking going on and a little more hockey sense being used rather than just straight brute force up the wall and winning puck battles and stuff like that,” said Backes.
“Faceoffs and timing, all of those things are starting to come back, and I think we were effective in the 5-on-5 shifts we had as a line.”
Backes has assumed Bergeron’s place on the Bruins’ first power-play unit. The Bruins ended a 0-for18 skid on the power play against the Penguins, with David Krejci netting two man-advantage goals and Rick Nash another.
Cassidy likes to note that “you can’t replace Patrice with one player,” but Backes is doing his part, especially on the power-play unit.
“He’s gotten a little more responsibility starting in his own zone as the centerman, so we are taking him back in time and on the first power play for sure,” Cassidy said. “He’s excited to do his part in Bergy’s absence.”
B’s notes
Cassidy excused four players from practice for maintenance purposes: defensemen Charlie McAvoy and Matt Grzelcyk and forwards Noel Acciari and Riley Nash. McAvoy suffered a facial laceration from a cheap shot by Pittsburgh right winger Patric Hornqvist.
“We have five of six guys playing through minor things and we identified today as a day to recuperate,” Cassidy said. “None of these guys have injuries that would preclude them from playing.”
Cassidy will make a gameday decision to start either Tuukka Rask or Anton Khudobin in goal against the Habs.