Extra work
Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy put his team through the paces Friday with two practice sessions
If Bruce Cassidy seemed unhappy immediately after the Bruins’ 4-3 overtime loss to the New York Islanders on Thursday, his mood did not lighten up during Friday’s practice.
In the midst of the first practice session — yes, the first session — Cassidy stopped a drill to give some very pointed instruction.
“Score some (bleeping) goals by going to the (bleeping) net!” yelled the coach loud enough to be heard in the Garden’s ninth floor press box, six stories above ice level. “Stop looking for plays that aren’t (bleeping) there!”
To be clear, the B’s second practice session was not exactly a runthem-into-the-ice type of bag skate of yesteryear, but rather a more focused special teams tutorial. After the power play let them down in the OT loss and the loss of practice time with the recent five-day COVID shutdown, it’s understandable that they might want to put some more time in. A clean sheet for the power play, said Cassidy, was also helpful.
Still, it is a rarity these days, especially with such a condensed schedule coming.
After practice, Cassidy was more analytical than fire and brimstone in explaining his get-to-the-net exhortations. You can go to the whip only so many times, especially in this challenging season.
“You have to translate practice into game situations. In practice, you always have less resistance even though there are bodies out there. And I think we’re a pretty competitive team, so we want to defend well even though it’s practice,” said Cassidy. “But teams in general are working hard to close off passing lanes, block shots, etc. And we have to have a little more of a mindset that what we do in practice helps translate to success in games. And I think we’ve done a pretty good job of that around here. We’re a team that generally practices well. So it wasn’t a lack of effort but a lack of mindset of shooting, scoring at the net with second or third chances, whatever’s necessary. Or off the original shot. Sometimes we’re in good areas where we can beat a goaltender and we look to make a play. … I think young guys have a tendency to overpass in practice, especially when they’re new to a team, they want to defer. That’s a little natural, so we want to get that out of their system, the (Zach Senyshyns), the (Greg) McKeggs, even (Trent Frederic) can be a little more selfish. If you have an opportunity to score a goal yourself, do it.”
Charlie Coyle, who played one of the best games of his season on Thursday, felt the practice was both needed and constructive.
“We haven’t had a lot of practice time as of late, so I think it was good to get the legs moving again, upbeat, good pace, get those puck touches back, feeling good that way handling the puck, scrape the ice clean and come out and get some power-play time on a fresh sheet,” said Coyle. “That was good to do. You just miss that being away for (five) days. I think it was needed and there were some things we could definitely work on. That’s what you use practice for, to get better.”
Where the B’s go from here is anyone’s guess. They have a threepoint cushion and three games in hand on both the Flyers and Rangers. The Blueshirts are on the rise. Getting bodies back will be helpful, but the B’s do not yet know how many and when those bodies will return. Ondrej Kase (suspected concussion) has not played since the second game of the season and Kevan Miller (knee) in over a month, with no definitive timetables for either them. And the B’s have won two games in a row just once since Feb. 10 and 12.
Still, the goals are lofty, said Cassidy.
“All in all, we never want to lower our standard,” said Cassidy, who assessed his team at the halfway mark during the COVID shutdown. “We’re a playoff team that believes
we’re a Cup contender and, at times, a favorite over the years here. We felt we started that way this year and then, with injuries, we were a little more, ‘Let’s get through it till we get back to our group.’ We were incorporating some younger bodies this year, both on the back end and up front. So I used the halfway mark as, ‘We’re in the mix, but we need to step up our game.’ And obviously health will help us do that. We took a hit last night again (with Karson Kuhlman and Tuukka Rask leaving the game). So we have to be careful that we don’t beat the guys down, either, when we play with different lineups every night. Take the positives, work on the negative. Like with the Islanders. We’ve been outplayed in the third period and we have to get better at that.”
Right now, those Islanders are
the measuring stick in the East Division. And the B’s are not quite measuring up.
Rask sidelined again
Rask, who left Thursday’s game after the first period, will not play this weekend, said Cassidy. It was Rask’s first game back after it appeared he suffered a back injury on March 7.
“I don’t think there’s anything major there, but obviously something’s going on,” said Cassidy. “He had to leave the game with a similar injury to last time so he’ll have to get looked at and make sure we make the right call the next time. Not make the right call, I guess, but we assumed he was ready to play, he said he was, and the medical staff (did). Obviously we’ll have to keep a closer eye on it so it doesn’t flare up.”