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Despite injuries to forward group, Bruins are still in good shape

October 23, 2019, 9:16 AM ET [12 Comments]
Anthony Travalgia
Boston Bruins Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
The Bruins were without three regulars up front in Tuesday’s 4-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs at TD Garden. David Krejci, (IR Upper Body) Karson Kuhlman (leg) and Joakim Nordstrom (undisclosed) were all missing from the Bruins lineup.

Krejci was placed on IR Tuesday morning, and will miss at minimum Saturday’s contest against the St. Louis Blues. Shortly after Tuesday’s win over Toronto, the Bruins announced that Kuhlman suffered a hairline nondisplaced fracture of his right tibia in their game against the Maple Leafs on Saturday. He will be reevaluated in approximately four weeks.

After practicing in a red non-contact jersey Monday, Nordstrom was back in his usual white jersey at morning skate Tuesday, but was not healthy enough to play later that evening.

So with Kuhlman out long term and Krejci’s return date unclear, where do the Bruins go from here? If their win over the Maple Leafs is any indication of what’s to come, the Bruins will be in good shape.

“Yeah, we missed a couple of guys but we got good depth obviously,” said forward Brett Ritchie who scored his second goal of the season in the win. “[Anders] Bjork came up and he’s a capable player. I think a lot of these guys have played with each other before, whether it was last year when guys were hurt, or if it was camp. I think it was easily adaptable, we didn’t have an issue.”



As Ritchie mentioned, Bjork made his season debut after being recalled from the Providence Bruins earlier in the day.

As he has the last few games, Charlie Coyle centered Ritchie and Jake DeBrusk. As they continue to develop chemistry, the line was good against Toronto and they were rewarded for their efforts on Ritchie’s goal.

“I think we’ve been good the last couple of games. Obviously chemistry takes a little bit of time, but it is getting better every game,” added Ritchie. “I think we were effective tonight and those are two great players and there is no reason why we cant make that work.”

In 9:52 of five-on-five ice time together, the trio accounted for six shots on goal and three high-danger chances for.

“Ritchie’s starting to turn a corner a bit, Coyle and DeBrusk, they’ve been closer. They’re on pucks a little better, so I was happy for them to get rewarded,” said head coach Bruce Cassidy. “Not only that, I thought they did a better job getting out of their end, winning puck battles when it mattered, then it translated in the other end.”

I thought Bjork played well playing on a line with Sean Kuraly and Chris Wagner. It was nice to see Bjork getting to the net and using his speed to create chances for the line. You could also see a noticeable difference in Bjork’s game just by playing on the left wing.

“Bjork, we didn’t know, but I thought he had a nice night too,” added Cassidy. “He may be able to give us some of that on a regular basis, so one game, who knows, but we’ll see where he fits in best.”

Prior to last night the line of Danton Heinen, Par Lindholm and David Backes only had 1:43 of five-on-five ice time together, but I thought the three looked solid at times Tuesday.

Lindholm was rewarded with his first goal as a Bruin.



“Yeah, he’s a good pro” Cassidy said of Lindholm. “I mean that’s part of their job description. I think that line was a little makeshift tonight. Heinen’s there; we moved Heinen around different spots. He plays second power play; we used him on the right wing the other night at times. So, Backs [Backes] gets lost in the shuffle a little bit there, but at the end of the day, if they’re going, they’re going to get out there.”

And of course the Bruins engine that is the Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, David Pastrnak line was back at it, combining for four points including Pastrnak’s league best 10th goal of the season.



“He’s just on it, he’s on pucks, he’s strong, his conditioning seems great. He’s playing a lot of minutes, hard minutes against good players every night,” said Cassidy. “Play-making ability, he’s making plays as well, getting his shot off.”

Tuesday was a step in the right direction for a Bruins offense that despite the brilliance of their top line, has been struggling offensively.

They got goals from three of their four lines, as secondary scoring has become more frequent in their last two games.

With Krejci and Kuhlman out of the lineup, Bjork could be the piece to the Bruins puzzle as they look for continued secondary scoring and balance across their four lines without two thirds of their second line.

“I don’t think he hurt himself at all tonight,” Cassidy said of Bjork. “With Kuhlman out, you lose a bit of that motor, a younger guy, get on pucks, and that’s where Bjorkie [Bjork] was good tonight. That’s what we’re looking for. Can he sustain it, can he be strong on it? And he was. He didn’t hurt us defensively, so that’s a good thing and that bodes well for him, and we’ll see if we find a spot for him on Saturday. But it’s looking that way.”

Cassidy going out of his way to mention that Bjork did not hurt them on Tuesday is a big deal as that was an area of concern in Bjork’s previous two stints at the NHL level.

”For me I got to show consistency, both game-to-game and throughout the course of the game. I think that’s important for me to show that I can compete every night and that I will be reliable and trusted,” said Bjork who landed four shots on goal in 13:17 of ice time.

“That’s something that’s one of focuses, and obviously my offensive ability, I think I was honing in on that a bit in Providence. Really want to have that offensive hunger playing up here and contribute to our team that way.”

As the Bruins move along in the coming weeks without Kuhlman, and potentially without Krejci for a handful of games, the Bruins will need the compete level and production of guys like Bjork, Ritchie and Lindholm to be there.

So far, they’re one-for-one.
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