Even during stretches in which he’s had to plug new faces into a dinged-up D corps, Bruce Cassidy has enjoyed the luxury of having two regulars that can chew up a ton of clock in Zdeno Chara and Brandon Carlo.
With stalwarts such as Charlie McAvoy (upper-body) and Kevan Miller (hand) still sidelined, Chara and Carlo have averaged 22:51 and 21:07 in time on ice, respectively this season — including three games over the past two weeks in which the duo averaged over 25 minutes on the ice.
But Cassidy tries to keep things in perspective. Sure, Chara continues to pace the B’s in shifts — but Boston can’t rely on those reps every night, especially during a stretch of four games over six days.
The B’s will need other defensemen to step up to shoulder some of the taxing minutes placed upon Chara and Carlo. So far, John Moore has been up to the task.
On a night in which the B’s out-attempted the Stars by a staggering 61-29 margin Monday at TD Garden, Boston’s free-agent pickup was square in the middle of it — leading all skaters with 25:52 TOI and posting a 69.44 Corsi For Percentage during 24:39 of five-on-five play.
While the stats on paper (one assist over 14 games played) may not shock many, Moore has found himself settling more and more into a groove with the Black and Gold, even as he’s found himself shuffled across the lineup and with a number of different partners.
"I feel pretty comfortable,” Moore told BostonSportsJournal.com Wednesday. “I think coming to a new team and learning a new system and guys’ tendencies and getting used to that, it takes a little bit of time.
“I feel really comfortable and my game has grown with each game. But at the same time, you want to make sure that you're improving every day. ... The coaching staff and the culture that exists here, it's driven by the players where you come in and you're expected to put your best foot forward every day and improve and get better. It's something that I find awesome about this and I've enjoyed it."
He’s never much of a regular on the power play (31 minutes over 81 games last season in New Jersey), but the B’s have primarily rolled out Moore down the other side of the red line, with 54.3 percent of his starts coming in the offensive zone — his highest total in four seasons.
Those numbers should only continue as he continues to get acclimated with his latest partner on the blue line in Torey Krug, with the duo logging 14:07 of 5v5 TOI together during Monday’s win over the Stars.
While primarily known for having a few deficiencies in his overall defensive game, the puck-moving Krug excelled alongside Moore Monday — with Dallas finishing with just five attempts whenever the pair were skating at 5v5. During that same stretch, Boston logged 20 attempts — including 10 scoring chances.
As his minutes continue to tick up as Boston awaits the return of Miller and McAvoy, Moore has enjoyed rounding out his overall game — especially recently while collaborating with a puck-moving pro in Krug.
"He's such a dynamic player,” Moore said of Krug. “It's been fun from a distance, these last couple of years, to see his game evolve into one of the best puck movers in the game. When he has the puck on his stick, especially on the other side of the red line, there's not too many guys I'd rather have with the puck than him.
“He's a fun player to go to work with. I think there was a sequence in the second period in Monday's period where we were out there and a guy broke his stick off a one-timer he had off the draw. (Krug) just starts playing chess and next thing you know, he rings one off the post. Nine times out of 10, that goes in. He's been great for me."
For Cassidy, matching a more offensively-gifted D in Krug with a larger skater has often paid dividends — with a Krug-Carlo combination starting to find its footing during the final stretches of the 2017-18 campaign before Carlo went down with an ankle injury.
So far, Moore is filling in with a similar role on Boston’s second D pair, although Boston’s bench boss is not selling anything short in terms of Moore’s play down the other end of the ice.
“Torey’s just coming back, so he’s got to be careful,” Cassidy said following Monday’s win. “He wants to play his offensive game but not empty the tank, so he can’t defend in his own end. So, I think Johnny’s done everything we’ve asked of him in terms of defending. Been very safe, and eventually we’ll try to build some more offense into his game, when to go, when not to.”
Whatever he’s doing, it seems to be working for Moore — as Boston still ranks third in the NHL in goals allowed (31) despite missing both Miller and McAvoy for a combined 14 games.
"I think it speaks volumes and sheds light on some of the ethos of this organization,” Moore said. “Defending and taking pride of your own end and being hard to play against. It's been a fun group to be a part of."
OTHER NOTES:
- The goalie rotation continues on Thursday, as Cassidy noted that Jaroslav Halak will get the start in net against the Vancouver Canucks at TD Garden. So far this season, Halak leads all goalies (min. five starts) in both save percentage (.952) and goals-against average (1.45). No other lineup changes to report following Monday’s win.
- Urho Vaakanainen and Miller both skated ahead of the team’s practice on Wednesday, marking Vaakanainen’s return to the ice after suffering a concussion against the Senators back on Oct. 23. McAvoy has yet to return to the ice, although he has been working out at Warrior Ice Arena.
- "I don't have the timeline yet,” Cassidy said of Vaakanainen’s potential return. “This is part of his process to get back in the lineup and skating. Hopefully he'll join us soon. We'll have a practice Friday, we'll see if he's out there. I don't know. We'll find out how he did today in terms of that and if he's ready. Tomorrow is a pregame skate, so that's always a tough one. ... Friday will be a good measuring stick if he gets back with us, then obviously he'd be a lot closer."