Everything you need to know from the Bruins’ 3-0 win over the Philadelphia Flyers in quickie form, with BSJ insight and analysis:
BOX SCORE
HEADLINES
Banged-up blue line impresses: When you’re rolling out a D corps featuring Steven Kampfer on your second power-play unit, that’s usually not the best sign for an NHL club. Sure the B’s blue line is in a bit of a sorry state given injuries to regulars like Charlie McAvoy, Kevan Miller and Torey Krug, but the patchwork unit more than held its own against a Philly club averaging over three goals per game entering Thursday’s tilt at TD Garden.
While replacements like Jeremy Lauzon and Kampfer — who had a secondary assist on the man advantage, thank you very much — logged the necessary minutes in place of some familiar faces, Boston’s veterans on defense more than carried their weight.
Sure, Zdeno Chara finished with two goals and posted another ho-hum total of 22:57 TOI, but Boston’s other “vets” — in 21-year-old Brandon Carlo and 24-year-old Matt Grzelcyk — were beasts out on the ice. Both skaters combined for 43:59 of ice time in Thursday’s win, with Carlo out on the ice for 18 chances for the B’s and 10 chances for the Flyers in 17:57 of 5-on-5 play. Grzelcyk posted a 57.69 CF% in the win while leading all B’s defenseman with 4:55 of time on the power play, even moving off the point and playing the role of distributor below the circle.
While Torey Krug seems to be less than a week away, Boston’s blue line has more than eased any worries about a porous stretch for the unit given the amount of injuries over the past week.
Jaroslav Halak wows again: The Bruins plan to roll out Tuukka Rask on Saturday against the Montreal Canadiens, but Jaroslav Halak is making a point to keep sharing reps in net for the Black and Gold. Halak stopped all 26 shots that came his way, including a pair of Grade-A chances from Flyers captain Claude Giroux in the middle stanza. After turning aside Giroux on a clean look from the slot with 11:14 to go in the period, Halak stopped the forward just two minutes later — going post to post to bat away a one-time feed.
The timely stop was just what Boston needed to stay in the fight, as Chara
broke the deadlock just minutes later off of a blast from the blue line. The goalie rotation doesn’t see to be ending any time soon, but Halak is giving the Bruins’ another weapon as the last line of defense.
Bruce Cassidy
"It could, absolutely," he said. "We do that at the start of the year for – we’ve done it here for years and just to work Tuukka’s starts in because he’s been the number one. But if Jaro’s able to push him and if and eventually take the job if and when that happens then we’ll look at that.
"We’re going to try to keep it as balanced as possible early on, and then like we said if one separates himself from the other like every other position here then we’ll allow that to evolve.
FOUR UP
Jeremy Lauzon
: Skating as a replacement for — another replacement — in
Urho Vaakanainen
, Lauzon was solid in his NHL debut, making smart simple plays on a third D-pairing with Kampfer.
Even though he projects as a two-way, puck-moving defenseman if he follows his trajectory following a couple of strong seasons in the QMJHL, Lauzon wasn’t flashy on Thursday — instead using his strong frame to contest with a few Flyers skaters during penalty-kill reps, including spiking a flying puck out of the air to eliminate a scrum in the crease during the third period.
Along with making a few sound passes through the neutral zone, Lauzon was responsible in his own end, often switching to close in on skaters behind Boston’s net before quickly returning to provide a body in the slot. Good start for the 21-year-old blueliner.
Anders Bjork:
He may not have contributed on the scoresheet, but the 22-year-old winger was dynamic on a line that’s well … not expected to be too explosive.
While a stronger Bjork has put together a couple of strong forechecking shifts with his linemates in
Chris Wagner
and
Joakim Nordstrom,
he was dynamic with the puck on his stick Thursday, opening up space with a few cycles around the net and finishing with a team-high 76.47 Corsi-For Percentage, albeit in just 11:24 of TOI. Boston’s top-two lines might be continuing to string together strong outings, but Bjork is adding a new dimension to the bottom-six.
Danton Heinen
: Don’t look now, but Boston’s second-line winger might be starting to heat up. Heinen recorded the primary helper on Chara’s opening goal in the second period, feeding the puck to Boston’s captain after snagging the puck away from Flyers defenseman
Andrew MacDonald.
The assist stands as the third in four games for the forward, who has started to return to form after getting scratched for two games earlier this season.
Brandon Carlo:
With Chara sent to the penalty box twice during Thursday’s game, Carlo had to take a primary role on Boston’s PK unit, leading the team by a wide margin with 4:35 shorthanded TOI and keeping the Flyers off the board. Along with his play on the kill, Carlo posted a fantastic 64:29 CF% during 18:43 of even-strength play. After a bit of a slow start, Carlo is playing the best hockey of his career over the past week or so.
ONE DOWN
Struggles at the dot:
If it wasn’t for a 4-for-5 showing at the dot for
Joakim Nordstrom
, the Bruins would have had a rough night at face-offs despite Thursday’s final — still finishing with just a 40% success rate on the night. Not the best night in that department for both
David Krejci
(0-for-7) and
Sean Kuraly
(1-for-5).
LOOKING AHEAD
The Bruins will continue their two-game homestand on Saturday, with the Black and Gold set to host the Montreal Canadiens, who sit two points behind Boston in the Atlantic Division. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.
