Bruins still have long way to go
Beating Devils must be rallying point
Comeback wins like the one the Bruins pulled off on Tuesday have a way of putting teams on the right track and, if it showed anything, it was that this team still possesses the same heart that has been a crucial ingredient in making it one of the elites in recent years.
BRUINS NOTEBOOK
But do not be deluded about the final result. This team has issues, and many of them were on full display in the 5-4 shootout win over the Devils.
In his typical fashion, coach Bruce Cassidy on Wednesday maintained his positive vibes while at the same time acknowledging all the problems facing his team.
Let’s start at the top.
Luke warm Pasta
David Pastrnak gave the B’s the walkoff shootout win, but he has one assist and no goals in his last four games. More troubling, he hasn’t been nearly the constant concern for opponents he usually is.
It got to the point on Tuesday that Cassidy decided to break up his best line of late — the Nick Richie-KrejciCraig Smith combo — in order to get Pastrnak going.
“Part of it is I don’t think he’s in the interior nearly as much as he needs to be. A lot of poke-and-go stuff, a lot of outside, looking for the 1-on-1 moves. He certainly has them, but the defenders know that he’s going to try that, so they’re more aware. So he just has to get a little dirtier, with his linemates,” said Cassidy. “They’ve had some tough luck. They rung some off posts. (Patrice Bergeron) hit a bar (Tuesday), Pasta hit one on the power play. So they’ve had a little tough luck around the net with their shots but I think they have to get back to scoring some greasy goals. They typically will eventually find their way. I moved him around, but I like Krejci, Ritchie and Smith. They’ve strung together some decent outings. We’ve been searching for that for a while. We don’t want to disrupt that, but that was the thinking halfway through the game. We’d had a few penalties and some guys got moved around. Sometimes that sparks Krech and Pasta. I think Bergie and March are always going to be a good pair, so we put Smitty up there. It gives them a shooter. But I’d like to keep it the way it is simply because I like the way Krejci’s line is starting to produce.”
Growing pains
While Pastrnak needs to pick it up, there’s enough of a track record to be confident he’ll break out of it soon. The question marks with some of the young players are still unanswered.
Cassidy had called out the newly constructed young fourth line of Anton Blidh, Trent Frederic and Karson Kuhlman for not bringing the requisite energy after the game on Tuesday. Zach Senyshyn is in the same boat. Cassidy kept up the plea on Wednesday.
“I was a little disappointed that they did not bring a little more juice to get us going,” said Cassidy. “(Brad Marchand) did it, and Marchie will always do it. But that’s something that we have to relay in the message. And we did after the second period. Hey, this is your job. This is an opportunity to earn the trust of your teammates and the organization to go out there and annoy somebody, get people excited, get the crowd into it. Different things that get teams motivated. It’s a long year. You need some of that. Freddy’s done a good job of it all year and we asked a few other guys to be involved a little more. Even (Jeremy Lauzon) did it a couple of times. He’s coming off an injury, so it’s a little harder. But that’s the ask for those younger guys and hopefully we get it going forward.”
Second guessing
At the start of the season, it appeared the bold gamble of letting Zdeno Chara and Torey Krug walk in order to give young players a chance was working. The B’s were at the top of the East Division and looked like one of a handful of Cup contenders.
Then it fell apart in a couple of weeks. First Kevan Miller‘s knee has kept him out of the lineup since Feb. 18. He skated with the team for the first time on Wednesday, though there’s not yet a timetable for a return. Miller’s partner, Jakub Zboril, has seemed rudderless since the veteran’s departure. Lauzon broke his hand in Lake Tahoe on Feb. 21 and has just now returned, with some predictable and highly visible hiccups. And Brandon Carlo was lost for 10 games with a concussion suffered on March 5, returning Tuesday.
That amount of loss would throw any defense corps into a tailspin. It also threw a major kink into the evaluation process. Whether the original plan can be revived for a playoff run is anyone’s guess, but the only missing piece right now is Miller, but it’s a big piece.
“He’s getting closer,” said Cassidy.
But with the April 12 trade deadline looming, the question is whether GM Don Sweeney can wait to see if that original plan can take hold again.
Tuukka (missing) Time
The issue that trumps all others — the health of goaltender Tuukka Rask — remains an open-ended, burning question. He stayed off the ice again on Wednesday and there is not yet a timetable for a return. Cassidy announced that Daniel Vladar will get the third start of his career tonight against Pittsburgh.
Meanwhile, Sean Kuraly practiced with the team for the first time since going on the COVID protocol list two weeks ago. He is now off the list and his availability for tonight will be determined in the morning. Jake DeBrusk remains on the list and has not yet been able to skate.
He should be inching closer to a return.
Provided good health, Cassidy expressed confidence in his team.
“When we get healthy, we’re as good as anyone in our division,” said Cassidy. “Obviously the month of March, we took some hits. COVID, injuries. But that’s also allowed for a Danny Vladar viewing. He’s played well. Sometimes there are positives in those things. You lose your No. 1 goalie and another guy gets in and now you may have a better idea of what you have in Dan Vladar. But we want to get Tuukka back out there, we want to get Kevan Miller back out there. We want to get Jake back off the protocol, get Kuraly in there, and look at our team as constructed at the start of the year.”