Debrusk heating up at right time for Bruins
TORONTO — Jake Debrusk did not the season he wanted, especially not when he has his first crack at unrestricted free agency this summer.
But there’s nothing like a good playoff run to make things all better.
Debrusk scored 19 goals in the regular season, not bad but not what was expected after he notched 27 last season while missing a month with a broken leg.
At the moment, however, that disappointment of the regular season seems a distant memory. Through three games in this first-round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Debrusk has three goals and two assists to help the B’s to a 2-1 series lead.
He’s been noticeable beyond the points. He’s got 13 hits in the series, including seven in Boston’s 4-2 win here on Wednesday. Coach Jim Montgomery said that when Debrusk’s habits and details are locked in, his talent can come to the forefront.
“I saw him go through four bodies (Wednesday) night. That’s when I know his competitive nature is where it needs to be,” said Montgomery. “And he’s engaged. When he’s engaged, with his talent level, he comes up with pucks. He’s at the net front on the second goal. That’s not an easy goal to corral, get it and bury it. But competitive nature got him there and his skill set took over.”
Debrusk has had his moments in the playoffs, especially against the Leafs. In his first playoff series as a rookie in 2018, he scored six goals, including the Game 7 game-winner. He wasn’t as productive in the 2019 series, with his one goal coming in a do-or-die Game 6 in Toronto, but he did take one for the team when Nazem Kadri crosschecked him in the head and got suspended for the rest of the series.
Now he’s got it rolling again, and the intensity of the playoffs has seemingly gotten the best out of him.
“I think it’s brought it to another level,” said Debrusk after the Scotiabank Arena practice in preparation for Saturday’s Game 4 (8 p.m.) “Obviously you try to get better and better at this time of year. It gets only harder from this point on. But I think that it’s exciting. It’s a clean slate, 0-0, and you’re playing for your life. I think it’s just matter of trying to get better and better. There’s still lots of room to improve and grow, especially 5-on-5. But at the same time, we’ve got to be ready for the response. They don’t want to go down, 3-1. It’s going to be the best game of the series.”
It can be a clean slate for him personally, as well.
“Especially toward the end of the year, I was just waiting to get to this, to be honest with you,” said Debrusk, whose three goals have all come on the power play. “I don’t know if I took it as a clean slate that things would go well. It obviously could go the other way, because it’s not easy and it’s only going to get harder. You’ve got to stay focused and determined and understand what the goal is at hand. But, yeah, I used it as an opportunity. I think we all do. Every player wants to be in big moments, wants to have success and to continue that.”
Debrusk has been a notoriously streaky scorer in his time in the NHL, and he appears to be on one now.