Ahead of the Bruins’ home tilt against the Vancouver Canucks on Nov. 8, Jake DeBrusk sat down with Bruce Cassidy, his linemates and the rest of Boston’s coaching staff.
The topic of the meeting? To dissect the 22-year-old winger’s slow start to his sophomore campaign with the Black and Gold.
Coming off of a successful 16-goal, 43-point rookie season, DeBrusk had only managed to light the lamp twice through seven games at the time of his sitdown — with both tallies coming in the same game against the Red Wings back on Oct. 13.
A scoring slump — especially one right out of the gate — can make even the most seasoned vet grip their stick a little tighter.
But as Cassidy was quick to note, DeBrusk’s drought wasn’t due to a lack of chances, with the winger posting a dominant 64.18 Corsi For Percentage through the first two weeks of the regular season — a stretch in which he failed to generate a single point.
No, the steps to get DeBrusk going weren’t as drastic as a lineup shuffle or an emphasis on the finer aspects of his game.
Rather, it was just a message of going back to basics. The chances were there for DeBrusk — he just needed to put himself in position to bury them.
“I'm not going to say it was some magic potion,” Cassidy said. "I think it was just a matter of us sitting down and talking to him about what the expectation is and where we thought he was. It wasn't a beatdown, but any means.”
The message for DeBrusk revolved around sticking to his bread and butter — stay hard on the puck, be a pest out in front and don’t be afraid to go to the dirty areas.
And sure enough, scoring bids halted by a wide shot or a stick lift just a few weeks ago have now started to find the back of the net for the young forward.
As Boston tries to pick up the pieces up front with Patrice Bergeron’s (upper-body injury) status uncertain going forward, DeBrusk has done his best to assuage the club’s secondary-scoring woes — scoring five goals and notching six points in his last six games.
For DeBrusk, turning the corner was less about changing his play on the ice than it was just his overall mentality — both in preparation and confidence when he did find the puck on his stick.
“It was something that I also thought about internally,” DeBrusk said. “Obviously we wanted something to change and the production wasn’t there and my game started slipping a bit. We just looked at some clips or things that I can control out there. It’s kind of something that you look at and you try to take the positives from it. Maybe you come to the rink with a different mindset then what hasn’t been working.”
Looking back, it’s easy to spot the positives in DeBrusk’s game — and why it should come as no surprise that the winger is catching fire right when the Black and Gold desperately need him to.
If anything, Cassidy and Co.’s meeting with DeBrusk was more of a scheduled reboot than a workshop — with Boston’s coaching staff harping on the winger to re-establish himself as an active forward in the danger areas on the ice.
“I thought he fell off a bit, we had to pick him up a little and say, 'Listen, keep playing, Jake. It's not the end of the world when the puck doesn't go in,'” Cassidy said. “And he kind of re-dedicated himself to attacking a little bit more and more of a complete game. ... When you don't have the chances, that's when you worry. He's had the chances and yes, I think he's been very good of late.”
He may not have the scoring totals of a Bergeron or
David Pastrnak
, but it’s not from a lack of trying on DeBrusk’s part.
Even if you factor out DeBrusk’s new role on Boston’s top power-play unit in a net-front role — and all of the Grade-A chances that come with being parked out in front of the crease — DeBrusk’s nose for the goal has put him in position to cash in time and time again this season.
Among all Bruins forwards, DeBrusk leads the pack this season in High Danger Scoring Chances Percentage at 62.90 — with No. 74 out on the ice during five-on-five play for 39 high-danger bids for the Bruins in 251:12 TOI, along with just 23 high-danger opportunities for the opposition.
Staying aggressive down low has finally started to pay dividends for DeBrusk, as evidenced by this shot map. (Stick tap to Sean Tierney over at @ChartingHockey for some fantastic data sets)
With puck luck seemingly back in his favor and more expected reps on the first power-play group (75.58 CF%) to come, a once snakebit DeBrusk seems to be hitting his stride right when the Bruins are in desperate need of a spark.
On a Bruins roster that’s undergone plenty of upheaval over the past month due to injuries, DeBrusk could find himself in some pretty interesting combinations going forward — with the winger expected to skate on a line with
Brad Marchand
and
Joakim Nordstrom
on Wednesday while his usual pivot in
David Krejci
will roll with
Anders Bjork
and
David Pastrnak.
The game of hockey can be unpredictable, but those Grade-A chances aren’t going away any time soon. And if DeBrusk is there to bury them? Then watch out.
