Bruce Cassidy has juggled his lines before, but could Wednesday’s latest reshuffle have some staying power?

NEW YORK — The Bruins might boast one of the top lines in all of hockey, but bench boss Bruce Cassidy has never been one to shy away from mixing things up if the results aren’t showing on the ice.

Injuries have played a part, but the 2018-19 Bruins have so far rolled out 32 different forward lines that have logged at least 15 minutes of 5v5 time together — along with 12 combinations with 40 minutes of TOI.

Cassidy has often shown a willingness to demote or flip a player or two in the middle of a game if he’s not a fan of what he sees — but Wednesdays’ alterations might have been the most drastic in-game turnover so far this season.

After close to 30 minutes of listless play up front against a rebuilding Rangers club, Boston’s fourth line of Noel Acciari, Sean Kuraly and Chris Wagner stood as the lone trio that remained untouched.

For the remainder of the night, here’s how Cassidy rolled out his lines:

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Ultimately, Boston only finished with one point on the night in what was a disheartening 4-3 shootout loss to New York, but Cassidy’s latest realignment up front did offer some hope at a possible respite for Boston’s secondary-scoring woes.

During a stretch in the second period in which Boston lit the lamp three times in the span of 3:22 — a revamped top-six corps tallied a pair of goals during 5v5 play, starting with Danton Heinen’s tip of a Matt Grzelcyk point blast at 10:37. Just 1:12 later, the second line made its presence felt — with Krejci feeding his new winger in David Pastrnak down low for his 31st goal of the season.

Cassidy has made in-game switches like this before, but often times, it’s just tinkering set aside for when his club needs a spark.

“Being around these guys for a while, you sense a little frustration,” Cassidy said. “Even the best lines, some days, aren’t clicking. It just seemed like Pasta was a little off tonight, for whatever reason. He’s been very good for us, so hey, make a switch. Maybe it just changes the energy dynamic of the line a little bit.

“Maybe the matchup makes them think a little bit, but at the end of the day, I’ve got to sense when players are coming back to the bench and they’re quieter than normal. They don’t have an energy level, they’re not positive, so hey, we’ll switch it up and see if that gets them going. Sometimes it does, other times it doesn’t.

But could these lines have some staying power? Given the instant results generated by these new lines, especially at an area that Boston has struggled in at 5v5 play, the case could be made that a top six with Pastrnak slotted down with Krejci might be the Bruins’ best in-house option in terms of balancing out an offense in need of some production away from its top line.

“We tend to go back to our groups, but this is something that we’ve talked about looking at for a while,” Cassidy said. “So it’s something that we may have to think about here in the next couple of days.”

Let’s take a look at Boston’s rearranged lineup from the second half of Wednesday’s game, and if Cassidy might have indeed found something with these new trios.



The Marchand-Bergeron-Heinen Line:

As Cassidy noted, something seemed to be off with his go-to trio of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron & Pastrnak on Wednesday.

Through just 5:15 of 5v5 TOI, that trio:

Posted a 22.22 Corsi For Percentage (out-attempted, 7-2) / Were outshot, 3-1 / Were out for a 5v5 goal against / Were edged in scoring chances generated, 3-0

A player like Heinen, who has seen his offensive production plummet this year, might seem like an odd candidate for a promotion up on a line with Marchand and Bergeron, but the results were certainly there.

Along with Heinen’s goal, that revamped first line:

Posted a 66.67 Corsi For Percentage (led in attempts, 8-4) / Outshot competition, 6-2 / Held a 4-3 edge in scoring chances

While Boston has found plenty of success over the years with Marchand-Bergeron-Pastrnak, any line that features both Bergeron and Marchand has fared pretty well over the years.

Here’s just a few lineup combinations featuring No. 63 and No. 37 over the last couple of seasons:

With Reilly Smith in 1,199 minutes of 5v5 play — 60.96 CF% / Plus-28 goal differential / Plus-241 shot differential / 3.45 goals for per 60 minutes

With Loui Eriksson in 372 5v5 minutes — 62.81 CF% / Plus-3 goal differential / Plus-108 shot differential / 2.26 goals for per 60 minutes

With Brett Connolly in 424 5v5 minutes — 55.23 CF% / Plus-3 goal differential / Plus-49 shot differential / 2.97 goals for per 60 minutes

With David Backes in 308 5v5 minutes — 59.25 CF% / Plus-7 goal differential / Plus-70 shot differential / 3.11 goals for per 60 minutes

With Lee Stempniak in 186 5v5 minutes — 58.45 CF% / Plus-6 goal differential / Plus-32 shot differential / 2.89 goals for per 60 minutes

With Anders Bjork in 57 5v5 minutes — 59.46 CF% / Plus-3 goal differential / Plus-6 shot differential / 4.18 goals for per 60 minutes

So yeah, put any capable winger on a line with Bergeron and Marchand, and the Bruins shouldn’t have to worry.

All things considered, Heinen seems like a good fit as a player that’s generally been able to stay in the lineup until recently due to his great defensive play (1.15 goals allowed per 60 minutes at 5v5 play).

Heinen’s at his best in the offensive zone when he’s hanging out near the crease — with four of his seven goals coming by way of a tip-in so far this season. When put on a line with a player that likes to operate up in the high slot in Bergeron, it could lead to some quality chances for a player that Boston needs to get going offensively in Heinen.



“I think I’ve got to win my puck battles first,” Heinen said of his role on that line. “Those guys are so strong on the puck and then get to the net when I can. Bergy likes finding high ice and finishing that way. Just try to get on the forecheck, get to the net and things like that.”

Keeping things simple in the offensive zone is something that Cassidy has harped on for players stuck in scoring slumps such as Heinen and Jake DeBrusk. A change in scenery when it comes to your linemates might be just what Heinen needs — while both Bergeron and Marchand seem to be more than capable with whoever they’re earning shifts with.

“To me, it’s finding chemistry with whoever,” Bergeron said. “I think sometimes, we’re maybe forcing it a little too much, so you go to someone else and you've got to recreate that chemistry. So you've got to simplify your game, bring it to the net a little bit more and then you get the ugly goals and the smarter plays.”

The Cehlarik-Krejci-Pastrnak Line

Can the Czechoslovakia Line stick?

Their numbers might not be as impressive as Boston’s reshuffled first line, but the trio of David Krejci, Peter Cehlarik and Pastrnak still managed to generate a 5v5 goal despite posting a CF% of 42.86 in 7:30 of 5v5 TOI Wednesday.

Even with all of the turnover on his line, Krejci has continued to produce this season — with the pivot on pace for his highest-scoring season since 2013.

Even with a few hiccups when it comes to handling the puck, Cehlarik has been better than advertised since his recall. During 98 minutes of 5v5 TOI, the winger has been out for 109 shot attempts for and 75 attempts against (59.24 CF%) and has not been out on the ice for a goal against.

In particular, Cehlarik’s improved play on the boards has made a notable difference, with the 23-year-old forward routinely winning foot races to the biscuit and feeding the puck back out to the slot and in Grade-A areas. It doesn’t seem like Cehlarik or Krejci are going anywhere, but what could Pastrnak bring to a line that seems to be on the cusp of breaking out?

Well, let’s state the obvious — Pastrnak is going to continue to produce, especially if he has a playmaking pivot like Krejci. On pace for 47 goals this season, the dynamic winger will continue to rack up points on the man advantage (29 power-play points - 2nd in NHL), but Pastrnak also has had plenty of success when teamed up with his fellow countryman in No. 46.

Over the past two seasons, in 157 minutes of 5v5 TOI, a line that features Krejci at the pivot and Pastrnak on the wing has generated a CF% of 58.17 to go along with a plus-9 goal differential and an absurd 4.96 goals for per 60 minutes.

Now, perhaps that offensive production stalls a bit when you swap in Cehlarik for Marchand — who was usually on that line with Krejci and Pastrnak during various bouts of injuries for Bergeron.

Still, pairing up Krejci with an established sniper like Pastrnak and a big winger like Cehlarik certainly gives Boston plenty more thump on that second line.

The Nordstrom-Frederic-DeBrusk line

This is where things get a bit dicey, especially when it comes to how much Frederic is getting out of his stint up in the NHL.

Cassidy’s first option on that line (Nordstrom-Frederic-Heinen) had a rough go of it in just 3:43 of 5v5 ice time, posting a brutal 11.11 CF% and getting outshot, 6-0. The group faired a bit better with DeBrusk added to the wing, but still finished with a 33.33 CF% and were out for a brutal goal against when Kevin Hayes skated in alone in the slot without any backchecking pressure and fired one past Jaroslav Halak.

Averaging just 8:45 TOI over five games, it seems unlikely that Frederic is getting as much out of his limited reps here in Boston as he would as a top-six contributor down in Providence. It wouldn’t come as much of a surprise if Frederic eventually heads back down in short order, but regardless of the pick at the pivot, DeBrusk seems to be due for a few games out of the top-six.

Still fourth on the club in goals with 14 on the year, DeBrusk has been stuck in a slump for close to a month now — with the second-year pro limited to zero tallies and just two assists in his last 11 games.

Perhaps some time in the bottom-six will allow DeBrusk to simplify his game a bit, or at the very least, give the forward some motivation to climb back into his spot on Krejci’s line. It seems to be a prudent move to get DeBrusk back on track, but I’m not sure how much you can expect from a line that has a 20-year-old Frederic in the middle, especially if they’re only going to log around nine minutes a night.

“Jake has been up in the lineup, hasn’t produced much lately, so you give him a different look. … A little speed with Frederic, Jake moves down and (we) force him maybe, to earn his way back up a little bit,” Cassidy said. “There’s messages there and then there’s trying to win a hockey game by mixing it up.”

Of course, there’s a good chance Cassidy could just roll out his usual lineups once again for Saturday’s home tilt against the Kings. But if anything, that short sample size on Wednesday does provide some food for thought for Cassidy and his staff.

“I’m not going to say no,” Cassidy said if Wednesday’s lines were a one-off situation. “We're going to look at it and see if that’s the best way to go. I didn’t mind them. I thought the balance was good. Not worried too much about Krech, Pasta, Bergy, March, whoever they play with — it will be a conversation of who they need to help them along.

“Peter has been fine on that line. So it will be more of — how does the third line look? What are we getting there? At the end of the day, we could do it. We’ll look at LA, too. We’ve got final change too, so that factors into it."

Stats via Corsica, Natural Stat Trick & Charting Hockey.