Boqvist displaying true staying power
Confidence can be an elusive thing, even for professional athletes. And you could forgive Jesper Boqvist if he had been harboring any self doubts earlier this season.
Boqvist, a second-round pick of the New Jersey Devils in 2017, was cut loose by Jersey last summer when the organization chose not to give him a qualifying offer. He soon signed with the B’s, but Boqvist was sent back to Providence three separate times before finally figuring things out.
And now he’s not going anywhere.
Boqvist used his speed to create a breakaway for himself and lift the B’s to a 3-2 overtime win over the Florida Panthers on Saturday, his sixth goal of the season.
Knowing what he’s been through, his teammates could not be happier for him.
“He works incredibly hard and he’s had a great story this year, from up and then down, working hard down (in Providence) and then coming up and making the most of his opportunities, carving out a space for himself on this team and playing every single day. It’s awesome. He’s an easy guy to root for and he’s a great teammate. I couldn’t be happier for him,” said Charlie McAvoy.
Linus Ullmark is happy to see his Swedish countryman’s game being appreciated.
“The guy is playing with a lot of confidence and in a lot of games as well. He isn’t getting the recognition he deserves a lot of times, but he’s a heck of a hockey player,” said Ullmark. “He shows it every single practice, every single game. He works his buttocks off every single shift so I’m very happy for him.”
More is being asked of Boqvist since Justin Brazeau’s injury. He’s been bumped up to center a third line with Jake DeBrusk and Trent Frederic.
“I feel like every chance I get I keep getting a little bit better,” said Boqvist. “I’m trying to improve each and every day.”
It’s been a remarkable journey, but not one he’s focusing on at the moment.
“I’m just trying to stay in the moment, take it day-byday and keep getting better. I want to be here and play every night,” he said.
Rotation talk
Coach Jim Montgomery is careful not to be pinned down to an exact plan for his goaltenders come playoff time, but he again sounded like he’s very warm on the idea of a goalie rotation.
“Obviously, performance and winning in the playoffs dictates a lot of decision making. But this is what we’re comfortable doing. It’s how our goalies are used to preparing,” said Montgomery. “So we’ll see what ends up happening. It’s hard when you win Game 1, if you do win Game 1, to switch. But if you’re committed to it, and it’s the way you think your goaltenders have had tremendous success the last two years, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to switch. But as we know, results really matter and they’re immediate in the playoffs.”
Montgomery said he hadn’t made a decision on yet which goalie will play on Tuesday against Carolina. It would be Jeremy Swayman’s turn in the rotation, but he played against the Canes last week. Montgomery may want to take a look at Ullmark against Carolina.
Powerful belief
The B’s went into Saturday’s game on an anemic 1-for-19 clip on the power play, but Montgomery was not sweating it.
“I’m not concerned about our power play,” said Montgomery before the game. “We’ve got David Pastrnak. We have Charlie McAvoy, we have a guy who has 400 goals as a Bruin (Brad Marchand). I’m not too concerned. I know it hasn’t looked great lately. We’re working on things and when you’re working on things, sometimes it’s not natural. But we think because we’re working on it now, it will be natural come playoff time.”
The B’s did score one PP goal on Saturday, but they went 1-for-5 and came up empty on three straight power plays in the first period.
“On our bench we could sense frustration in the first with the three firstperiod power plays and not coming through. We talked about how that next one is the one that matters,” said Montgomery, referring to Charlie Coyle’s second-period strike.
Loose pucks
The B’s have a light week coming up with just two games — Tuesday vs. Carolina and Saturday at Pittsburgh — before finishing up the regular season with a back-to-back in Washington and home against the Ottawa. It’s been lighter down the stretch than in recent years. They had just two back-to-backs in March.
“I think our schedule is a lot better for us the last three weeks of the season,” said Montgomery. “We couldn’t practice last year. I think we finished with nine (games) of our last 16 (days) or something. This year we have time to practice, we have time for days off. So it really sets up well for us.”…
Montgomery said the game in Pittsburgh next Saturday remains the target date for Pat Maroon’s Bruin debut. … After having a rough night in the faceoff circle in Raleigh when he won just 2-of-15, Coyle bounced back, taking 13-of18 on Saturday.