Krejci and the fountain of youth

When we analyze David Krejci’s game in the season opener against the Nashville Predators Thursday night at TD Garden, he was more impressive than just his three assists en route to a 4-3 victory.

It’s only one game but he resembled Krejci circa 2008-09 when he finished with 73 points and a plus-37 rating in 82 games. He was solid at both ends of the ice. His success in the faceoff circle was crucial. His ability to win drops allows the Bruins to start with the puck and possession equals success.

Krejci had 17 faceoff wins, which equaled his career-high versus New York Rangers on Jan. 9, 2010 when he went 17-for-25. He went 17-for-22 against the Predators on Thursday. It was also important because David Backes, the only other right-handed centerman, was out of the lineup and will be sidelined for the next few weeks due to diverticulitis.

“He’s always been good on it and he really dug in tonight,” said Bruce Cassidy. “Loved his effort, his commitment, killed penalties, took D-zone draws as a match-up guy, power-play guy, all positives and we needed him to step up. We lost two key guys (Patrice Bergeron and Backes) that we expected to have, so good for (Krejci). Listen, this guy is a competitor and he wants that responsibility, so that’s a good sign for us.”



It also helped that Krejci was playing with some young, speedy talent.

Cassidy tweaked Krejci’s line in the third period on Thursday and replaced David Pastrnak with Anders Bjork. So, it was rookie Jake DeBrusk on the left side, Krejci and Bjork on the right. Cassidy was able to tinker with that line because the Bruins had a 3-1 lead after two periods. And, the fact the team was without the services of forwards Bergeron (lower body) and Backes gave the coach a chance to find some chemistry in case both are out for the long term.

Krejci spent the majority of training camp with Pastrnak and DeBrusk, but the veteran also looked comfortable with Bjork.

“They do a little bit of playmaking and scoring, so it could be a good line,” Cassidy said. “It would allow us to play Pasta with March and Bergeron if he was healthy. It’s the type of combination that we’ve liked.”

It also helps that trio of part of the second power-play unit, so there’s some familiarity. Krejci’s game went under the radar because of the performances from rookies Charlie McAvoy and DeBrusk. In the big picture, the Bruins don’t win that game without Krejci’s two-way dominance.

“Thought he was really good with the two speedsters,” said an NHL scout who was in attendance. “Slower players that think the game very well need speed on the wings.”

Current Nashville Predator and former Pittsburgh Penguin Nick Bonino is a perfect example. He centered the “HBK Line” with Carl Hagelin and Phil Kessel on the wings. That trio was a big reason why the Penguins had success and won the Stanley Cup. Maybe Cassidy can recreate a similar scenario with Krejci in Boston.

It’s been well documented at this point that many of the veterans, including Krejci, tweaked their offseason routines and focused more on speed than strength and it showed on Thursday. If Krejci found the fountain of youth during the offseason, it showed on Thursday.

“The game’s changing and everyone was working on (speed) in the summer to get ready for a high-paced game,” Krejci said. “That’s what I did and I feel pretty good today. But, I’ve got to keep working hard on it through the season because those guys (Pastrnak, DeBrusk and Bjork) are pretty fast, so I need to keep myself in shape to keep up.”

If he can sustain that for an 82-game season, it bodes well for the Bruins.