Kuraly fits in where needed
Move to third line pays off
Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy had to reconfigure his lines when center Patrice Bergeron was a gametime scratch for Thursday’s 3-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Cassidy stuck with one personnel makeover — moving Riley Nash from third line center to first — and broke with another that he used when Bergeron was out for 13 games with a fractured foot.
The change was filling the vacancy at center on the third line.
Cassidy previously moved Noel Acciari into Nash’s place with David Backes and Danton Heinen and kept Sean Kuraly on the fourth line. But the coach played a calculated hunch and put Kuraly on the third line in Game 4 and appeared happy with the results.
Cassidy was noncommittal on whether he will keep Kuraly with Backes and Heinen for tonight’s Game 5 at the Garden with the Bruins up, 3-1, in the series. If Bergeron returns, the B’s will return to status quo.
“It was just to mix things up and I thought with (Tommy) Wingels coming in, Noel and (Tim) Schaller would be a hard heavy consistent type of (fourth) line,” Cassidy said after practice yesterday at Warrior Ice Arena. “Sean has a little more speed in the middle, a different player than Noel, and with Backes and Heinen maybe that is a better matchup. It was something to consider with the last change and with their speed but we might change that up if we have the same lineup.”
Kuraly had an idea that Cassidy was going to move him to the third line. The shift demanded changes in Kuraly’s game because the two lines have different responsibilities and ice time. Kuraly logged 14:44 and had three shots on goal and two hits.
“I had a pretty good idea that if that were the case I would be there,” said Kuraly, who has a goal and two assists with a plus-4 in the series. “It was a spot that Noel was in before and now it is just wait and see what the call is and hopefully do my best in that slot. I thought we did pretty well for the most part. Backs and Heinen are good players and I was excited to play with them.
“I was just trying to do my job the best I could and push the game in the right direction and gain some momentum for us. I tried to stick to my game and do what I do well.”
Kuraly plays center with a style more similar to David Krejci than Bergeron, Nash or Acciari. Kuraly played in 75 regular season games primarily on the fourth line and finished with six goals and eight assists, often against the opponent’s best line.
“(Cassidy has) been doing that all year, putting us in spots where you are out there against (Connor) McDavid or (Auston) Matthews or (Johnny) Gaudreau and some of the other top guys,” said Kuraly.