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It feels like it was just yesterday that the Bruins were kicking off the 2018-19 season in Washington with an embarrassing 7-0 loss.
82 games later and the Bruins find themselves in the same position as they did last year, entering the playoffs with a first round date against the Toronto Maple Leafs as the number two seed in the Atlantic division.
Both teams enter the series with several key questions. The biggest on the Bruins end involves how exactly head coach Bruce Cassidy will piece together his lines against a deep Maple Leafs offense.
After the Bruins clinched home-ice in the series earlier this week, Cassidy elected to rest some regulars, making it more difficult to predict what his line combinations will be Thursday night when the series kicks off at TD Garden.
Shortly after the Bruins loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning Saturday afternoon in their regular season finale, Cassidy was asked about his lines, more specifically the spot to the right of Jake DeBrusk and David Krejci.
Despite having an idea of what direction he wants to go in, Cassidy wasn’t willing to share his lines just yet.
“No, that’ll get sorted out quickly this week. Right now, we’ll have an internal discussion, and I have a pretty good idea which direction we’re going to go,” said Cassidy. “Some of that will depend on, again, looking at Toronto as well.”
Cassidy has several different routes he can take when it comes to molding his top-six, but a Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-David Pastrnak and DeBrusk-Krejci-Karson Kuhlman top two line combination makes the most sense to me, as
Kuhlman has played himself into a top-six role of late.
In 68:34 of 5v5 time on ice together, the trio was together for eight 5v5 goals scored, while allowing just three.
Even with a different set of linemates in the Bruins final two regular season games, Kuhlman still managed to impress the coaching staff.
“Absolutely, we were looking at another guy. Krech (Krejci) didn’t even play the other night, and that was one of the lines he played with. Tonight, we put Krech and Pasta (Pastrnak), so no, that wasn’t a demotion for him (Kuhlman). In fact, you might look at it the other way,” said Cassidy. “We have enough confidence in him because he’s played lots of minutes. He’s been good for us. Again tonight, right in front of the net on Heinen’s goal. He does these little things that endears himself to his teammates and the staff.”
Another option on the Krejci line is trade deadline acquisition Marcus Johansson. Despite getting limited time to build some chemistry with DeBrusk and Krejci due to a lung contusion that caused him to miss 10 games, Johansson showed some potential in a top-six role.
Even though the goal scoring numbers with Johansson on the second line were not as impressive as they were with Kuhlman, the trio managed to skate to some solid possession numbers in 46:45 of 5v5 ice time together.
Their 55.56 Corsi For Percentage and plus-12 shot differential should give Cassidy some confidence in the three, should they be placed together.
For Krejci, it doesn’t matter to him much who he and DeBrusk plays with, he’s ready to build on the chemistry developed with DeBrusk.
“I guess it’s a good thing, you know JD [Debrusk] was on my line the last couple years and we developed some chemistry and on the right side it’s been a little more challenging but we’ve played with a lot of players, so no matter who’s on my line now we know we have some chemistry, we know what to expect. We’re in good shape here,” said Krejci.
With John Moore injured, the Bruins outlook on the blue line is a bit more clear. A healthy Brandon Carlo will have a big impact on the Bruins blue line after missing the playoffs in the last two years due to respective injuries.
With Zdeno Chara, Charlie McAvoy, Torey Krug and Carlo rounding out the top-two d-pairs, the Bruins third paring is the one to keep an eye on.
Matt Grzelcyk and Kevan Miller should get the first crack at things in Game 1, but if either struggle, it doesn’t sound like Cassidy would be hesitant about using Connor Clifton at any point in the series.
“Yeah, I mean, the growth in his game has been very good. He’s a very competitive guy, so this time of year that’s one of the most important things and certainly an identity of our club. I think he’s more comfortable moving the puck, when to make a play, when to join the rush,” said Cassidy. “But as you know, most teams will go through a certain number of defensemen if you have any type of run at all, so I suspect we’ll see him at some point.”
The last question that surrounds the Bruins lineup entering the playoffs is the question of is Tuukka Rask ready? Rask will be between the pipes when the puck drops on Thursday, but where his game is at after a not-so-encouraging end to the season remains to be seen.
His 16 save performance on 21 shots in Saturday’s loss wasn’t quite the way anyone wanted to see Rask enter the playoffs, but Cassidy doesn’t think his play down the stretch will have any bearing on the playoffs.
“I don’t think he’s that concerned about it other than he’s a professional and wants to play well every time he’s in the net,” said Cassidy. “I believe he’ll be ready to go Thursday and in good form, but that’s why we play the games. We’ll find out.”
As Cassidy alluded too, Rask says he’s ready to go Thursday.
“Absolutely, yeah. Let’s get it going,” said Rask. “Couple days of rest and a couple practices and that’s it. Best time of the year.”
Already ruled out for the first few games of the series, the Bruins are going to miss Sean Kuraly who remains out after blocking a shot in a game against the Devils at the end of March.
The Bruins will hit the ice at Warrior Ice Arena on Monday, maybe some of those questions will be answered.
Round 1 Schedule
Game 1: Thursday 4/11 7:00PM @Boston
Game 2: Saturday 4/13 8:0PM @Boston
Game 3: Monday 4/15 7:00PM @Toronto
Game 4: Wednesday 4/17 7:00PM @Toronto
Game 5: Friday 4/19 TBD @Boston
Game 6: Sunday 4/21 TBD @Toronto
Game 7: Tuesday 4/23 TBD @Boston
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