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An injury to one means an opportunity for another.
This time, the unfortunate injury card has been dealt to David Backes, who is expected to miss the next eight weeks after having a piece of his colon surgically removed in an effort to curb the diverticulitis that’s plagued his start to the season. The opportunity, meanwhile, has made its way to Matt Beleskey, a healthy scratch in three straight games, and a winger waiting for this next chance.
“That's what it is: an opportunity,… Beleskey said following Thursday’s optional morning skate at Warrior Ice Arena in preparation for tonight’s game against Vegas. “That's what I've been looking for. I've been working hard and trying to work with the coaches on the ice after, trying to get better at things they want me to do. I'm just going to come and bring my energy and be ready to play tonight.…
And in a lot of ways, this feels like Beleskey’s last chance.
The hard-hitting winger has talked about putting last year behind him, and he appeared to do just that in the preseason, but the regular season has been a different story and return to those struggles, with zero points, a minus-2 rating, and just seven shots on goal in six games this season.
He’s among those players still in Bruce Cassidy’s doghouse, and a seemingly suboptimal fit for a lot of the things that Cassidy wants to do, and it’s tougher to find a better opportunity for Beleskey to get on the same page as saying “Hey, go do a lot of the things that Backes has done this season.…
“Losing Backes is a big body, so we’d like to have a guy that can fill some of that role,… Cassidy admitted this morning. “And what does that mean, a big body? Well it means applying pressure on their defense, knowing that if they’re going to come out of their zone they’re going to have to go through bodies. It means in the defensive zone getting in and clogging up lanes, winning board battles and being a little bit abrasive so that they know somebody is breathing down their neck.…
Beleskey will not be asked to play center, of course, and figures to slot somewhere on the left side of the B’s bottom-six groupings. Those center responsibilities could be picked by Providence recall Jordan Szwarz, who centered Wednesday’s practice on a line with Danton Heinen and Anders Bjork, and comes to Boston with five goals and eight points in six contests for the P-Bruins this season.
Szwarz has not played in an NHL game since Apr. 11, 2015.
Austin Czarnik was recalled from Providence on an emergency basis earlier this morning.
The 5-foot-9 Czarnik, who can play center and wing, has gone pointless in his two NHL games to date this season, but has four goals and 10 points in five games for the P-Bruins this season.
Whether or not the 24-year-old Czarnik plays tonight remains to be seen, but it is worth noting that Frank Vatrano was basically the last player on the ice during today’s optional skate (only Ryan White, still on a PTO, came off later), which means that he’s likely going to sit as a healthy scratch.
Despite all these injury woes for the Black and Gold, the Bruins won’t get an ounce of sympathy from the Golden Knights, who come to Boston with the No. 4 goalie on their organizational depth chart as their de facto starter, as Maxime Lagace is now the man in the crease for Vegas.
Lagace allowed five goals on 37 shots in his first NHL start this past Tuesday, a loss to the Rangers.
The Golden Knights defeated the Bruins by a 3-1 final in their only prior head-to-head.
Loose ends: With all their injuries, the Bruins are going to go back to the loaded first line with David Pastrnak as the right-side sniper for Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron... Tuukka Rask is your goaltender tonight, and Zane McIntyre is the expected backup... Ex-Bruin defenseman Andrew Alberts will be an in-studio analyst for NESN tonight and on Saturday.
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.