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You’re right to ask just how the hell the Bruins have managed to stay competitive down six regulars.
But the truth is that the answer changes almost every night. Take Monday’s win over the Wild for example, a game in which the Bruins got goals from five different skaters, and were led by their 40-year-old captain logging over 25 minutes, a rookie, a fourth-liner that seemingly played his way out of favor with the same coach that developed him, and a career minor-leaguer.
It’s all hands on deck, and they’re contributing in a big way.
“Well we’re going to need it right?… Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy said with a grin. “Look at the Vegas game, not to go too far in the past, [Riley] Nash and [Sean] Kuraly chip in and the other night it was just [David] Pastrnak so small samples size but we’ll win some games with our top end guys but if we’re going to win consistently then we need it from everybody. [Jordan] Szwarz did a really good job tonight. Frankie [Vatrano] gets on the sheet. [Sean] Kuraly again with good all-around play and that’s important for us. It’s nice to see Jake [DeBrusk] get rewarded, even though it was a bit of a lucky goal. We talk about his foot speed, getting his legs underneath him, he’s attacking, winning pucks and if you get towards the net you’re going to get some of those breaks so good for him.…
This should not have been as easy as it became for about 45 minutes though.
With the Wild in need of a bounceback game, and with Devan Dubnyk riding in Boston with a two-hour-long shutout streak against the Bruins, a quick goal from Nino Niederreiter five minutes into the first period could have been enough to beat the mentally-tested Bruins into the ground.
But the Bruins responded with two goals scored in less than two and a half minutes, and then a fight 10 seconds after that second goal. It was a responded that flipped the script and fried the Wild. “I just felt we had our legs. We had good jump tonight. We pushed back against the Capitals the other night, so we’re starting to – we pushed back against Columbus, so you’re starting to see that personality of our hockey club that we are not going to be an easy out,… Cassidy, whose team has grabbed points in seven of their last eight games, acknowledged. “We are going to keep ourselves in games, and work hard to get back in games. Some nights it’s going to work out, and some nights it’s not. That would be a great personality to have on the team. It just shows the character of the group.… Tuukka Rask made 24 saves in the winning effort.
This and that
- Some of you guys really need to get off the ‘Zdeno Chara is old and bad’ wagon. Chara was a straight-up monster in last night’s game, with two assists and a plus-3 rating, and a third period that saw him on the ice for over 10 minutes. Chara was especially strong in the penalty-killing department, as well, and made countless simple-yet-efficient plays that kept the puck out of harm’s way.
- With two assists in the win, 26-year-old minor-league journeyman Jordan Szwarz recorded his first NHL point since Mar. 2015, his first NHL assist, and the first multi-point night of his NHL career. “He competes hard,… Cassidy said. “He’s on the right side of battles. He does a lot of little things well.…
“He’s a hard working guy. Very quiet, goes about his business, just a solid guy. Deserves – has earned another chance and he’s getting it now. I thought he really took advantage of it tonight. And the secret for those guys is to do it – if you want to stay, it’s got to be consistent. And for three games, I’ve liked his game. Didn’t play as much against Washington, just worked out that way. But I’ve liked his game. He’s had young guys on his wing and he’s doing a good job with them.… - The Bruins held an optional skate on Tuesday morning. It featured David Krejci on the ice for about five minutes. Krejci was clearly laboring through the skate, and didn’t do much besides skating. This is the first step of his rehab process, but again, I’m not holding my breath on this player returning next week. Some good news in all of this? A source has indicated that it’s not related to his hip woes.
Up next
The Bruins will travel to New York for a Wednesday Night Rivalry head-to-head with the Rangers. Brad Marchand (upper-body) will not travel with the team, ruling him out for the game, but the B’s have yet to make a decision as to whether or not he’ll join them for Friday night in Toronto. Noel Acciari (finger) will travel, but will not play. Anton Khudobin (lower-body) is a possibility to dress, too.
Ty Anderson is the Boston Bruins beat writer for WEEI.com, and has been covering the National Hockey League for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010. He can be heard on the Saturday Skate program on 93.7 WEEI (Boston), and has been part of the Boston Chapter of the PHWA since 2013. Contact him on Twitter or send him an email at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com.