With key cogs out, Bruins adhering to similar gameplan to grind out points. So far, it’s working. taken at Scotiabank Arena (Bruins)

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Bruins

With key cogs out, Bruins adhering to similar gameplan to grind out points. So far, it’s working.

By Conor Ryan

Nov 26, 2018 • 11:43 am

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TORONTO — Bruce Cassidy will be the first to admit that the past two weeks haven’t been easy, both regarding his duties from the bench and the task at hand for the players in front of him.

That might be underselling the hand that the Black and Gold have been dealt by the injury bug, as Boston has played for the better part of the month with most of its D corps on the shelf.

Even with the return of John Moore and Kevan Miller from three and 13-game absences, respectively, Boston is still without the services of Charlie McAvoy, Urho Vaakanainen and Brandon Carlo, with the trio’s expected return still unclear.

A myriad of injuries compounded into an even more dire situation as of late, with two of the B’s most impactful skaters, Patrice Bergeron and Zdeno Chara, ruled out for at least a month due to a rib/clavicle ailment and an MCL injury, respectively.

And yet, since both Bergeron and Chara were knocked out of commission, a shorthanded Bruins club is still consistently accruing points — with the Black and Gold posting a 3-0-2 record since Chara exited a tilt with the Avalanche back on Nov. 14.

Boston has had to work for its five-game point streak — with three of the matchups decided in overtime, and all five contests decided by just a single goal.

Saturday’s win over the Canadiens was another nail-biter, with Boston holding off a furious third-period rally by the Habs and escaping the Bell Centre with two points thanks to a power-play strike by John Moore in the final minutes of regulation.

"I think we've been a pretty resilient group here, the last, I don't know how many games. Road trip, trying to stay in the game, get a lead, protect the lead, play winning hockey, close out games,” Cassidy said. “Goaltending has been terrific in that area. We seem to score just enough goals. Get one on the power play late.

“I think our guys, they knew, late, we let it get away, but there was still time left, so you stick with the program and keep the puck out of your net after you score at three minutes against a pretty hard-charging team. Good for them.”

Given the circumstances working against them, things aren’t going to be getting any easier for this dinged-up Bruins club, especially with matchups against the Maple Leafs and Lighting on the horizon.

But so far, Boston has stuck to a tried-and-true gameplan in order to stay afloat over the last two weeks. So far, the results have followed:

Stellar goaltending

For as much as a decimated D corps should get a stick tap for only relinquishing eight goals over its last five games, Boston would be in much more dire straits if both Tuukka Rask and Jaroslav Halak weren’t currently standing on their heads.

During five-on-five play, the opposition has had more than its fair share of quality looks against the Black and Gold during the team’s point streak — edging the B’s in 5v5 scoring chances by a significant 109-91 margin, along with a 45-38 advantage in high-danger chances.

So far, both Halak and Rask have largely negated the disproportionate number of Grade-A attempts in the blue paint, posting save percentages of .971 and .938 since losing both Chara and Bergeron.

When it comes to turning aside the “high-danger” attempts that come in and around the low slot, both goalies have also been up to the task — with Halak in particular boasting an .872 “high-danger” save percentage this season during 5-on-5 play.

Rask has also stood his ground behind a D corps that has surrendered a number of good looks, including a sequence on Saturday in which Torey Krug and Kevan Miller left Charles Hudon unchecked by the blue paint with the puck on his stick. Rask made one of his 31 saves in the following seconds to absolve his blueliners.




Mistakes are prone to happen on a defense rolling out two rookies on a regular basis, but as Rask and Halak continue to dominate between the pipes — miscues are becoming less and less costly for the Black and Gold.


“They are asked a lot,”
Jake DeBrusk
said following Boston’s win over Pittsburgh on Friday. “I think just watching some of my clips and some of the game clips that we watch as a team, I think that there are a lot of chances in the slot, some pretty good Grade-A’s, and even tonight there could have easily been 5 goals against us and Jaro was huge and Tuukka as well, Tuukka is finding his game and it’s just a matter of getting some run support right now.”


Krejci line is rolling


With Bergeron out of the picture for at least a month, if not longer, the onus has fallen on
David Krejci
to assume the role as Boston’s go-to man in the pivot, especially with some of Boston’s other big guns up front mired in a slump in
Brad Marchand
and
David Pastrnak
(three total points in past four games).


As a whole, Krejci has kept Boston’s offense going — with his linemate in DeBrusk 
notching seven goals and nine points in his last 10 games. During that same stretch, Krejci has 10 points of his own, all assists.




In particular, Krejci has found quite a rapport with
Danton Heinen
to his left on the wing, with the duo posting a dominant 66.67 Corsi For Percentage during five-on-five play in their last four games together.








Bottom six, rookies contributing


It may not be ideal from a cap perspective to roll out a player making $6 million a year on the fourth line, but
David Backes
has fit in pretty seamlessly on Boston’s checking line as a late — with the B’s makeshift bottom six providing a strong complement to the work performed by the Krejci line.


Saturday’s win was a perfect example of a largely dormant third and fourth line making its presence felt — with Backes lighting the lamp for the first time all season off of a steal at the blue line, while later drawing a double-minor penalty that led to Moore’s eventual game-winner.


"I think he's fit in well with that line,” Cassidy said of Backes. “He played with Kuraly in the playoffs a few years ago. There's a certain straight line, Sean covers a lot of ice. That helps Backs, (
Chris Wagner)
gets in there and bangs. Whether it's
Noel Acciari,
(
Joakim Nordstrom)
a little bit, I think they've found a way a little bit. Spent more time in the other team's end. Inflicting a little bit of damage to the D with forechecks and they're able to get a few pucks by the goalie lately, so that's great."




Players like Wagner (goal vs. Detroit) and Nordstrom (OT goal against Pittsburgh) are chipping in offensively, but Saturday’s win over Montreal might be the best sample in which to view the contributions of the bottom six.




Nordstrom added 2:58 on the PK with four blocks on the night — all four coming off of high-danger bids in the low slot or just aside of Boston’s net.






Add in the contributions of rookies like
Colby Cave
(68.4 faceoff win percentage over past two games), and dependable minutes from
Jeremy Lauzon
and
Connor Clifton
(18:01 and 16:07 average TOI over last five games, respectively), and Boston has a number of skaters picking up the slack at just right the time.




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