How a shortened bench and rare break-up got the Bruins’ 4th line back on track

If there was ever a game for Bruce Cassidy to shorten his bench — this wasn’t it.

Already forced to salvage the final leg of a three-game road trip without *clears throat* —  Kevan Miller (upper body), Marcus Johansson (lung contusion), David Pastrnak (thumb), Matt Grzelcyk (upper body), Jake DeBrusk (foot) and Torey Krug (upper body) — Cassidy was going to need to rely heavily on his go-to lines if the club was going to snap its two-game losing skid.

That meant more minutes for both Patrice Bergeron & Brad Marchand (14:04 5v5 TOI together) — with the duo now up to 41 points since the start of February (19 games), while keeping the fourth line of Chris Wagner, Sean Kuraly and Noel Acciari intact.

With David Krejci’s line featuring a promoted Charlie Coyle on the wing and a (literally) promoted Paul Carey up from Providence — along with a third line centered by 21-year-old Trent Frederic — rolling out the fourth line at least gave Cassidy one group with some cohesion, and a history of sustained, effective production this season.

So why then, did Cassidy essentially bench his fourth line for the final 10 minutes of the first period during Thursday’s matchup against the Jets?



Candid as always, Cassidy went through the numerous infractions that landed his usually trusted line on the pine for the opening stanza — while also prompting a promotion for Wagner up to Frederic’s line.

Sluggish starts have plagued Boston during this recent rut, and the Acciari line certainly added to the team’s woes in that department on Thursday.

While primarily matched up against the Jets’ top line of Blake Wheeler, Patrik Laine and Mark Scheifele, Boston’s checking trio were burned for a goal just 1:08 into the contest. With all three forwards down low on a rush down the ice, both Acciari and Kuraly failed to corral the puck — leading to a counter by Winnipeg and an easy tap-in goal from Wheeler, with zero bodies to account for the 6-foot-5 winger in the crease.



Midway through the first, Acciari committed the cardinal sin of an O-zone penalty — sent to the sin bin for a hold against Jacob Trouba. Eliminating a shift in the offensive zone and subsequently gifting a stint on the man advantage to Winnipeg’s fifth-ranked power play proved costly, as expected — with Schiefele beating Tuukka Rask at 11:24 to put Boston in a two-goal deficit.

That was it for Acciari and Kuraly in the first period, with the duo not getting another crack at ice time until the following frame, while gaining a new winger in Joakim Nordstrom, who had not tallied a goal since all the way back on Dec. 17.



“We challenged them — Kuraly and Acciari a little bit,” Cassidy said following Boston’s 4-3 loss to the Jets. “They were out early on the first goal against. If they're going to buy into that role where they're going to play against the other team's top players, then the other coach has last change and looks for that, well they have to relish that.

“They got caught three low on the goal, they weren't strong on the puck, and then they take an O-zone penalty, so right away, it's not the way they're going to survive playing against good players.”

Whereas Wagner and his new linemates in Frederic and Danton Heinen were a bit of a mixed bag together — getting out-attempted (8-4) and outshot (4-2) in 9:25 of 5v5 TOI together — Cassidy’s in-game benching appeared to get the message across to both Acciari and Kuraly.

Even with their overall shifts shortened for the remainder of the night, the Kuraly-Acciari-Nordstrom line made the most of its opportunities — limiting the opposition to just one shot on goal and three total shot attempts in 6:31 of 5v5 TOI, while generating seven SOG and eight attempts of its own.

They’ll never be the flashiest grouping, but a re-commitment to a tenacious forecheck and keeping track of the puck allowed the Acciari line to pester Winnipeg goalie Connor Hellebuyck for the remainder of the night, with the trio holding a 3-0 edge in high-danger scoring chances generated — including one sequence that led to Nordstrom’s first goal in 25 games.

Once again, nothing fancy — Kuraly beats Sami Niku in a foot race to the puck with Nordstrom tangled up with Ben Chariot, Kuraly’s subsequent shot creates a pinball effect down low and Nordstrom eventually cashes in.

“I think we have really good depth on our team,” Nordstrom said. “So that’s not an excuse. We’ve got a good enough team to be able to win every night."



On a night in which the same recurring flaws (injuries, slow starts) doomed Boston to a third straight loss in regulation — an impromptu in-game call managed to at least get one line back on track and put the B's in position for another late-game comeback. 

“We had a chat with them, they've been good players for us all year, played the right way,” Cassidy said. “Play hard, they lost their way for a bit and then they corrected it. I was happy to see them get rewarded."