The Bruins may be off to a 2-0-0 start, but ahead of a four-game road trip, Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery made it clear that he needs to see more from his forward group.
“It’s a small sample size, it’s two games, but I just haven’t seen a lot of offensive five-on-five generation,… Montgomery said. “Again, small sample size, but I just trust my eye behind the bench and the one that followed up in video. I just wanna see something else and try to get a spark.…
He did that with both his words and his actions, too, as the B’s bench boss jumbled up his lines and pairings for Monday’s practice at Brighton’s Warrior Ice Arena.
Up front, Montgomery has decided to elevate both Matt Poitras and Morgan Geekie and put that duo to the right of team captain Brad Marchand.
Poitras’ elevation up the lineup comes amid a two-game NHL sample that’s included one assist and four shots, along with seven wins in 14 battles at the faceoff dot, for the B’s.
“He’s generated a lot of offense already, and obviously [I’ll be] giving him an elite player like Marchy on his line,… Montgomery said of his decision to promote the 19-year-old Poitras up to a premier spot. “And I’ve really liked Geekie’s game. I just wanna see if there’s chemistry there offensively.…
With Marchand to the left of Poitras and Geekie, the Bruins will move Jake DeBrusk back to his natural left wing on a line with Pavel Zacha and David Pastrnak, while Charlie Coyle will center a line featuring James van Riemsdyk (two goals in Saturday’s win) and Trent Frederic on the wings.
“Putting [DeBrusk] with the other two gives us a real good rush line that has a lot of speed and creativity to it,… Montgomery noted. “And a guy like van Riemsdyk really helps them connect the dots [for Coyle and Frederic] because he likes to own the net front, Charlie likes to possess [the puck], and Frederic does a really good job of getting open as F3 and shooting it.…
On the backend, meanwhile, the Bruins went through a practice that featured a heavy dose of Hampus Lindholm to the left of Charlie McAvoy, while Matt Grzelcyk dropped down to the second pairing opposite Brandon Carlo. But speaking after Monday’s practice, Montgomery seemed to suggest that a Lindholm-McAvoy pairing is going to be more situation-based than a regular line featured.
The Bruins will begin this road swing Thursday night in San Jose.
Ty Anderson is a writer and columnist for 985TheSportsHub.com. He has been covering the Bruins since 2010, and has been a member of the Boston chapter of the PHWA since 2013. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group, HockeyBuzz.com or any subsidiaries. Yell at him on Twitter/X: @_TyAnderson.