With spots on Bruins' defense dwindling, John Moore making Bruce Cassidy’s decision harder

Bruce Cassidy was candid when discussing the performance of John Moore — Boston’s top offseason acquisition on the blue line — back on Dec. 22.

Up to that point, Moore was largely as advertised as an effective, left-shot D who can kill penalties and log heavy minutes, notching five points over 32 games while averaging 20:17 TOI. And yet — whether it be adjusting to both a new defensive system or numerous defensive pairings during an injury-plagued month for the B’s — Cassidy noted Moore had fallen into a bit of a rut.

Now, a “rut” (0 points, minus-4 over five games) happens to even the best defensemen over the course of a long NHL season. But on a Bruins D corps with 7-8 legitimate everyday players — and just six starting spots — even something as ordinary as a slump can end with watching games up on the ninth floor for an extended stretch.

“I think sometimes if he makes a mistake or it doesn’t go his way,  then he’ll try to correct it all at once,” Cassidy said of the reasoning behind Moore’s mid-season slump back on Dec. 22. "I think he was having an easier time earlier in the year, just letting the game come to him and sometimes there’s different reasons for that

“A guy might put expectations on himself, ‘I need to be plus this or I need this many points’ and so they start overthinking it instead of just letting it develop. … Eventually, it’s going to come around when you’re a good player and that’s just where John’s at.”

In the time since, Boston’s once-decimated D corps has largely been replenished. Zdeno Chara rejoined the club on Dec. 27 after sitting out a month-plus due to an MCL injury, while Kevan Miller was cleared the same night after taking a puck to the throat a month prior.

By the time Charlie McAvoy is cleared to return to the lineup, Cassidy is going to have a tough call to make when it comes to deciding which NHL regular will have to be the odd-man out of Boston’s starting rotation on defense.

And based on his recent play, Moore isn’t making things any easier for his bench boss.



While his minutes have dwindled a bit with workhorses like Chara and Miller returning, Moore seems to have found a bit of a rapport on a pairing with Torey Krug — posting three points (1 G, 2 A) over his last three outings with a plus-3 rating during an average TOI of 18:41.

Tuesday’s convincing 4-0 win over the Wild might have been Moore’s best outing to date — with the 28-year-old defenseman notching a pair of assists in 19:23 of ice time, the third-highest total of any Bruins player. A skilled skater in his own right, Moore did note it’s been a bit of adjustment playing regular minutes with a puck mover like Krug.

“No one moves as quickly as the puck out there,” Moore said. “Part of team speed is obviously spending as little time in your end and making those quick outlet passes so if he’s doing that and I’m able to join the rush or close the guy off with my skating and get him the puck I think that’s all the better. We have so many skilled forwards, when they have the puck on their stick that’s when we’re at our best.”

He might be a bit more contained while out with Krug, but Moore is still more than willing to jump up into the play when necessary. Considering how much Cassidy has harped on 5v5 scoring generated off of plays from the blue line or low-to-high sequences, he has to be pleased with what he saw from Moore on Tuesday.

After a cycling sequence behind the Wild net eventually resulted in a puck fed to Moore from just inside the blue line, the veteran let one fly toward Alex Stalock in net, with Danton Heinen redirecting his shot home to put Boston on the board just over five minutes into regulation.



Moore was at it again later in the period, beating Zach Parise to a loose puck at the half wall before firing the biscuit over to a waiting Krug from the point. Krug’s shot ricocheted off the end boards and right to Brad Marchand, who tucked home his 16th goal of the season to build Boston’s lead.



Moore finished the contest with the highest Corsi-For Percentage at 5v5 play for any Bruins defenseman with a mark of 55.26 — with Boston holding an edge in shots (13-9) and scoring chances (8-5) during his 17:12 of 5v5 ice time.

Like most of Boston’s blue line this year, Moore hasn’t had an established partner to work with for most of the 2018-19 campaign, with a majority of his 5v5 minutes going into Tuesday’s game coming with Steven Kampfer — due in large part to the myriad of injuries that decimated the club in November.

While opposing clubs have held a plus-20 shot differential in 153:00 5v5 TOI in which Krug and Moore are out on the ice together, the pairing does hold an edge in high-danger goals for (5-1) and a 28-23 advantage in high-danger chances generated. There’s still some things for Moore to work on, but he shows more than enough to be a valuable member of this Bruins defense, especially on the PK (team-high 97:55 TOI).

It hasn’t been a seamless transition for Moore since inking a five-year, $13.75-million contract this summer, but with judgment day quickly approaching for Cassidy and staff as McAvoy inches closer and closer to return, Moore is doing his best to earn more playing time.

“There were some adjustments for him,” Cassidy said of Moore following Tuesday’s win. “He’s more of a man-to-man in Jersey. We’re more layers. There’s certainly times we want to use his footspeed to close, and we’ll give him the freedom to do that, but there’s also times where there’s reads you have to make and pass people off, especially around the net.

“I think him and Torey have a good partnership. He’s on the off side and they seemed to have partnered well, I think for the most part when they’ve been together. So, that’s important that you feel comfortable with your partner, but, like I said, it’s just a little time in the system that’s helped him. Tonight, he was more active on the blue line, getting his shot through. It doesn’t have to be a bullet, but if you can get through the first layer around the front of the net you can get rewarded if you do that on a regular basis, and he was able to do that tonight.”