Bjork learning the hard way
When Anders Bjork found himself stapled to the bench for much of the second period of the Bruins’ 4-3 victory over the Dallas Stars on Thursday, it was not a huge surprise — least of all to Bjork himself.
What forced coach Bruce Cassidy to drop a teachable moment on Bjork was a shift early in the second period when his line with Charlie Coyle and Jake DeBrusk was hemmed in by Dallas. The Stars are a good team, and that can happen. But once the B’s got the puck over the blue line, Bjork decided to cut right back into his zone instead of getting the puck deep and heading off for a change. The Stars went right back on the attack.
With Cassidy using Dallas as a measuring stick for what a playoff game will be like, the coach decided it was time to get his attention. Bjork barely played the rest of the period.
“I made a bad play at the end that I’d say is unacceptable,” said Bjork. “It’s something the team really harps on, the coaching staff harps on, not going back with the puck. Sometimes you get what you deserve in those situations, sometimes they let it go, but the message there is I’ve got to get that out of my game. The coaches felt it was kind of creeping in a bit there and made a point of telling me that’s not the way we play here. No player likes to sit, obviously, so it’s frustrating, but sometimes it can help you learn a lesson. You remember when yousit.Itstickswithyou.”
Whether Bjork gets to play in the B’s matinee against the Islanders in Uniondale remains to be seen, but Karson Kuhlman will get a shot on the Coyle-DeBrusk line. Cassidy said it will be between Bjork and Joakim Nordstrom to fill in for the injured Chris Wagner. Nordstrom took the first shift on the fourth line in Wagner’s spot in Friday’s practice, often a sign that he’ll get the nod.
Cassidy could well go back and forth between Kuhlman and Bjork for those third-line duties the rest of the way, just two of several options that have yet to be fully sussed out.
“That’s a great example of what he’s up against if we make the playoffs and have some success, he’s going to see that type of hockey. It was a bit of a learning curve for him (Thursday),” said Cassidy. “(Kuhlman) has been through it. Jake’s been through it, so they have a little more experience with that. That’s why I want to keep both of them going and at the end of the day, we might do it right down to the end if we have to.”
Not only has Bjork never played a professional playoff game because of his two season-ending shoulder injuries, he is in uncharted waters already. In his first two seasons between Boston and Providence, he played 39 and 33 games. Right now he’s up to 64 games (57 with Boston) this year. The game against Dallas was a good taste of what he’ll be up against.
“It was an intense game,” said Bjork. “I’ve never played in the playoffs so I don’t have anything to compare it to, but a few guys said it was similar to a playoff game. That’s great for me to experience and it’s something I want to be able to perform well and be strong and solid in. I think at times I was (Thursday) night, but you can see just one little mistake can hurt the team a lot. That’s why in those intense games it’s so important to have solid habits.”
Bjork has shown enough flashes to make one think he can be a solid NHLer, but exactly what his ceiling might be is still unclear. He’s got 9-10-19 totals in 57 games, but has just one assist in his past 10 games. How does he think his game is trending?
“I wouldn’t say I’m pleased with it,” said Bjork. “There are some things I need to work on for sure. To me it feels more like a consistency issue. Sometimes in games, I’ll have it for a period and not have it for another period. That hurts my icetime when that happens, when I’m not consistently winning my battles. That can snowball a bit. Overall, there are just some areas I need to improve on.”
He hasn’t had a ton of chances lately — only eight shots on net in the last 10 games — but he believes that his centerman going into beast mode lately has something to do with that.
“I think part of it is how well Charlie Coyle has been playing,” said Bjork. “He’s been creating so much, for himself, and a lot of times I’m staying out of the way not to drag other guys to him. I want to help keep it going, but also not interfere when a guy is going like that, just be a support guy. I think I was OK with that, though not as good as I want to be with winning pucks and stuff. Overall, there are some things I need to improve on before playoffs start. There’s not a lot of time left in the season, but there’s time enough to do that.”