Facing old teammates with new linemates
This weekend’s back-toback games against Detroit promises to be bring some different emotions for Tyler Bertuzzi, but coach Jim Montgomery is adding a little extra juice for the former Red Wing.
Bertuzzi, who until last week had been a member of the Red Wing organization since being drafted by Detroit in the second round in 2013, was bumped up onto the David Krejci-david Pastrnak line in Friday’s practice, moving Pavel Zacha to the Charlie Coyle-trent Frederic line.
Whether it sticks remains to be seen, but Montgomery said the thinking is two-pronged.
“Just a little bit of experimentation to see what it would look like,” said Montgomery. “We know from early in the year that Zacha with Coyle and Frederic is a real good shutdown line, so there’s a real good secondary shutdown line. Zacha has penalty killed all year and he knows our D-zone coverage. That has a lot do with it. And I thought Bertuzzi has made a lot of plays, so we put him with some other playmakers. He makes plays and he goes to make plays in different areas than those guys. So just seeing if there’d be some chemistry there. Instead of doing it in-game like
I do all the time, I’d just like to see how it would look from the start of the game because the mentality of players is very different when you start with a line than when it’s in the rhythm of a game.”
In his first two games with the B’s, Bertuzzi has gotten a few shifts with Krejci and Pastrnak but not enough to make any judgments. It will be interesting to see what kind of look Bertuzzi gives the unit. When Zacha was with his Czech mates, the line traded chances with the opposition but the skill level of the Czechs usually put their line in the black on the scoresheet.
With Bertuzzi, Krejci and Pastrnak will not only have another talented playmaker but also a player who can finish his own chances.
“I’m excited,” said Bertuzzi, who scored 30 goals last year. “Like I’ve said, wherever they need I’ll be ready to go. I’m ready for this opportunity and hopefully we can get some things going.”
As for playing against his former teammates from whom he’s only a week removed, Bertuzzi was less sure about his feelings.
“It’s going to be weird. I don’t know what to think. I’m just going to go out and try to play some hockey. Every game is a meaningful game and it’s just another game,” said Bertuzzi.
“I’m just trying to focus on the task ahead. Obviously these two games are going to be a little bit different. But I’m looking forward to the challenge as well.”
Meanwhile, Bertuzzi is getting acclimated to his current home. He’s now got two games and four practices under his belt.
“A little bit more each day. Some practices help. The games help a lot. It’s still going to take a little bit of time but I’m getting there,” he said.
“The biggest thing is just getting the systems down and the forecheck and all that. That’s coming to me now and the rest is just going out and playing hockey.”
Hall return?
Taylor Hall, who suffered an undisclosed lower body injury on Feb. 25 in Vancouver and has been on LTIR, is expected to skate on Monday and could be available when the team returns from its five-game road trip, according to a Globe report.
Montgomery maintained the club’s vague stance and didn’t confirm any timeline.
“What we’re expecting is Taylor Hall to hopefully be an option come playoff time. We don’t have an update there different than that,” said Montgomery.
Hall walked through the B’s locker room on Wednesday without the aid of any crutches. If Hall comes back before the end of the season, the B’s would have to place Nick Foligno on LTIR to clear up cap space. As opposed to Hall, Foligno, who appeared to take an accidental knee from Calgary’s Nikita Zadorov on his knee or thigh on February, is still moving slowly and with the aid of a crutch. But Montgomery didn’t differentiate between Hall’s situation and Foligno’s.
“They both have suffered pretty significant lower body injuries and it’s just going to take time,” said Montgomery.
Once the playoffs start, there are no salary cap restrictions.
On the offensive
Montgomery wasn’t thrilled with his team’s offensive intensity in the B’s 3-2 loss to the Oilers, specifically the play from his forwards, but he hopes something can be gained from the loss.
“As long as we learn from it, right?” said Montgomery. “We weren’t creating offense. The thing that struck me the most was our attitude in the third period. It was different. It was the first time I saw it all year. So why did we have an attitude of waiting for things to happen instead of let’s get make things happen? Don’t wait around for something bad to happen. Let’s go win this game. We didn’t have our normal attitude and it’s something we talked about as a team. Players had some ideas as to what we could do better and us coaches had some ideas about what we could do better.”
No surprisingly, every healthy player was on the ice and accounted for at Friday’s practice. …
If the defense pairs hold from Friday’s practice, it will be Derek Forbort’s turn to sit out on Saturday. Matt Grzlecyk skated with Connor Clifton on a third pairing.